tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13469256238601298582024-03-08T03:31:43.882-05:00Malawi 'n MeThis blog is intended to share my overall experiences, inner thoughts, outer thoughts, and general observations while living in the country of Malawi for 9 months as an English Language Fellow, which is really just a euphemism for English instructor. I hope my comments will be interesting, enlightening, and not too frightening. Perhaps I can manage to insert such rhyming couplets at regular intervals as well. I'll do my best. Welcome to Malawi, the "Warm Heart of Africa."Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-71021491196883029802009-06-03T01:08:00.008-04:002009-06-03T15:51:01.182-04:00In Mourning of a huge loss...Earlier today, I received a huge shock. My former Domasi College student and good friend Gillo Moyo (pictured at left with her her family and husband Mac) passed away of Malaria on May 26. Mac wrote in an e-mail that she was only sick for 4 days. I can say no more than to express my extreme sorrow at how much the world will miss this amazing person as a beloved teacher, mother, auntie, sister, daughter, and friend. She was only 42, and was taking care not only of her children, but some nieces and nephews as well. Many people relied on her for love and support, which only multiplies the grief resulting from her sudden departure from this Earth.<br /><br />This posting is in memory of Gillo, who graciously and generously invited Deliwe and me into her home just more than a year ago. I cannot believe she really is gone from this world.Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-18953832348404730012008-06-15T23:17:00.011-04:002008-06-16T02:07:58.234-04:00The prodigal daughter returns home...in true Malawi roller-coaster style...I know this is way past-due, but I'm finally logging on to give an update on my whereabouts. No, I am no longer in Malawi. I returned this past week Monday, 9 June, and since then have been pondering how to continue my entries now that I'm back, especially since I still haven't finished telling the stories of events prior to my departure on 8 June. It appears I'll have to rewind at least a few times in order to do so.<br /><br />For now, I'll start with my reflections on my journey back home. Coming back in itself was relatively uneventful (well, by Malawi standards, that is...). Deliwe and I managed to get the house cleaned up and packed in one night and one morning (well, she did most of the work, I admit...). In the couple of days that preceded my departure, a few colleagues and neighbors came over to check out the 'loot' I needed to get rid of prior to moving out. This, I must admit, was tinged with a bit of irony, as it truly was the only time anyone had come to my home to offer me money. As crass as this may sound, it was often the opposite. Sometimes salespeople, sometimes beggars--but primarily I tended to be at the giving end, so it was nice to be at the receiving end for a change. Not only that, but several people (including Deliwe herself), insisted on giving me gifts before I left. This of course was nice, but meant more things to pack as well. See below for details on the packing. Out with the old, in with the new. The key is to leave just about everything you brought with you behind. Which I did. Luckily, without much difficulty, and with people more than happy to take it all off my hands.<br /><br />After selling a few small things--computer speakers, headphones, power strips, fan, electric kettle, and not much else-- I proceeded to go through what was left and decide what to keep and what to leave with Deliwe and her family. The good news is that I discovered (starting in December) that I'd lost quite a bit of weight in Malawi, so most of my trousers no longer fit. Since tailoring is relatively cheap and readily available in Malawi, I left most of my trousers, as well as a few shirts, with Deliwe. This, of course, opened up quite a bit of space in my bag, which proved necessary for fitting in all of the wooden carvings I'd picked up on Zomba Mtn. the day before--on a sidenote, I'd promised the vendors there the week prior that I'd be back to buy a few things... let's just say the word 'few' turned out to be quite a liberal term in this case.<br /><br />So, once I'd cleared out the closet of unwanted 'fat' clothes, I set about the task of wrapping my new goods in the remainder of the clothing and stuffing them into my 2 big bags. Oila! Amazingly, everything fit! It was as if I'd both acquired and discarded the optimum number of belongings to perfectly fit. A good omen? Perhaps, but remember. This is Malawi... 'n Me.<br /><br />The following morning, we got everything together in a liesurely way, set out to leave at 11 a.m. with Flocy, the wife of Dr. Maseko (who purchased my car), along with her 4-year-old son and her niece. In the meantime, a few people dropped by to say goodbye, as well as to finish collecting the 'loot' they'd claimed and/or put down-payments on the night before. The goodbyes that touched me most were from Movuto, Deliwe's brother (who also helped to collect all of Deliwe's loot which also required the assistance of 2 of his strongest friends), Deliwe's mother, who thanked me for helping to purchase metal roofing for her new house, scheduled for completion in August, and, last but not least, Harold's kids Noel, Pacharo, and Miracle. Upon my request, Dorothy had brought them around in the morning to say goodbye to me. Giving each of them a final hug and kiss really brought a few tears to my eyes. That was a tough one. <br /><br />**(On a sidenote, the last I heard through the Domasi rumor mill, Harold had another visit to the police station after going to Dorothy's mother's house drunk, violent and ridiculous again, just shy of a week before my departure. Luckily, her mother's landlord was able to restrain him and take him to the police station for his 3rd appearance in a little over a month. Rumor had it back then that he might go to prison. However, after talking with Deliwe this past week, it sounds like that never happened, and that he and Dorothy may have gotten back together in the week since I left. I sincerely hope this is not true. Still checkin... will have to check again and save that news for a later post...)<br /><br />Once that was done, off we went. My only real goodbye to Domasi College was to ride off in the car, laying on the horn in a very obnoxious way. I loathe long, teary goodbyes, so this was the best alternative, and it somehow worked for all of us, as we got a good laugh out of it. Not sure how the Domasi residents felt about the whole thing, but we had giddy smiles on our faces, anyway.<br /><br />The 3-to-4 hour drive to Lilongwe went relatively well. The 'police barricade' gods were on our side that day, as I was not stopped once during the entire trip (which is almost unheard of). I was especially concerned about possibly being stopped since the car insurance seal prominently displayed on the dashboard (per Malawi traffic law) was under Flocy's name, since mine had expired at the end of May. Considering I'd been on the traffic cop radar enough to start my own 'Mzungu in Malawi' version of the U.S. show 'Cops' based solely on my own traffic cop stops (rhyme intended), this was amazingly good luck beyond all imagination. <br /><br />So, after the dreaded police roadblock in Balaka (usually the most intimidating one with officers ready to get you for any little offence they can drum up), sitting in the car, singin along to Lucius Banda on the cassette player, enjoyin the sunshine and warm breeze through the open windows, we were all thinkin nothin could stop us now.<br /><br />And then it happened.<br /><br />The kid.<br /><br />Woke up.<br /><br />Wet trousers.<br /><br />Confused expression.<br /><br />Panicked mother.<br /><br />Wet car seat.<br /><br />Panicked Jen.<br /><br />But wait! It's not my car anymore!<br /><br />Relaxed (but a bit grossed out) Jen.<br /><br />"Why did he wet his pants? Isn't he potty-trained?" (Again, the kid's 4 years old.)<br /><br />"He was shy. He didn't want to ask you to stop the car," was the response. <br /><br />"But couldn't he ask you? Then you could've asked me."<br /><br />"I think it's because he was sleeping."<br /><br />"OK, then we should stop soon."<br /><br />So, we did, soon after that. Luckily, Flocy was prepared with clean, dry clothes in the trunk, and somehow there wasn't a major odor, nor a visible stain on the upholstery. Again, at that point, I didn't care. The car was sold. Paid for. Money in my U.S. Bank acct. Woo hoo!<br /><br />After buying a few oranges, cokes, and some samosas, we were on the road again.<br /><br />That was our only incident. Not too bad. The next time, the boy asked, and then shamelessly relieved himself the true Malawian way. At the side of the highway, out in the open, for all to see and admire. All (o.k., maybe just most) Malawian men relieve themselves this way. One thing I will not miss, and do not miss. (Though around here, out in the sticks, it can also happen once in awhile, unfortunately...)<br /><br />Stay tuned for the 'what I miss' and 'what I don't miss' about Malawi list to come in a later post...<br /><br />We eventually made it to Lilongwe, said our goodbyes to Flocy and the car, and lugged my oppressively heavy bags up the stairs to our room (with a lotta help from a member of the hotel staff, whom I made sure to thank with a generous tip).<br /><br />Since there were no standard rooms available when I finally remembered to book the hotel room the day before, we had a luxurious 'executive suite' room, complete with a couch and one of those big, round pompadon (sp??) chairs. Due to exhaustion, Deliwe and I just plopped down in the furniture in front of the T.V. You'll never guess what was on. Ya, you got it...'Idol' -- Like 'American Idol,' but the Southern Africa version. Unfortunately, I knew enough about the show back home to explain the formula to Deliwe. She found it fascinating, of course. <br /><br />Actually, the T.V.-watching was just a way to pass the time while waiting for a few veterinary surgeons to meet with us to discuss the Penga case. Ya, amazingly (and contrary to the erroneous pessimism of a certain ex-pat Puerto Rican person I once knew in Malawi claiming to have a law background), these guys really seem to be taking my vet malpractice case very seriously. They actually came to the hotel to meet with me on my last night in Malawi, discussed my case further, and expressed their deep concern over how my experience has affected the reputation of their profession in Malawi. They really seemed genuinely concerned, and promised to do everything in their power to make sure the case was handled professionally, seriously, and thoroughly.<br /><br />For now, I'll leave it at that. I'm waiting for a final decision at the end of this week. Again, I implore all those following this story to send good vibes, pray, meditate, and do whatever you can to summon the forces of the universe to bring this man (the Zomba butcher---er, I mean 'vet') to justice. Let's just say I did everything in my power to report his incompetence, unprofessionalism, and lack of compassion to light. Our meeting on 7 June also bore much fruit in terms of conflicting stories exposing his blatant dishonesty. Again, watch for details later, once I've received a conclusion later this week. For now, I'll leave it at that, just in case something written here could compromise the investigation and deliberation of the case.<br /><br />So, after our chat with the vet surgeons, Deliwe and I were off to our usual Indian restaurant for some food, then back to the room to watch a little T.V. (British 'survival' show this time... I was the one who stayed awake for that...). Deliwe, as usual, was 'out' by 10 p.m.<br /><br />The next morning was very difficult, as I woke up to the sound of Deliwe trying to stifle her sobbing. Though I'd expected a teary goodbye at the airport, I hadn't expected for it to start so soon. It turned out to be a rough morning for both of us. Luckily, we'd planned things well enough that we were able to spend some time together, and try to enjoy the morning prior to our trip to the airport. <br /><br />After breakfast and a bit of haggling at the (last-minute) Lilongwe 'curios' market, we headed to the airport with our taxi driver Billy, who not only was willing to drive us there for a reasonable fare, but also agreed to bring Deliwe back to the city after seeing me off, at no extra charge, since he also had a pick-up at the airport about an hour after I checked in. This was an extra bit of luck.<br /><br />Was all this good luck too good to be true? No police stops, the apparently fruitful meeting with the vet surgeons, the generous cab driver? Ya, my pessimistic side started to wonder... somethin's gotta give...<br /><br />And then it happened. "Your bags are too heavy, and you have three. You'll have to pay an over-baggage fee."<br /><br />"How much?"<br /><br />"116 U.S. dollars." (if memory serves)<br /><br />"Can I pay with a credit card?"<br /><br />"No. You must pay cash."<br /><br />"Where can I get cash?"<br /><br />"There's an ATM near the National Bank counter, over there (points to my right)."<br /><br />"O.K. Can I go get the money and come back?"<br /><br />"Yes. I'll return your passport to you once you've returned with the payment."<br /><br />So, I calmly proceed to the ATM, only to find that it's a National Bank ATM, which means it will only accept cards with a 'Visa' logo. Mine is a Master Card. I then proceed to the National Bank counter, and am told they cannot help me access the money. I have no way to get the cash I need to pay the fee.<br /><br />Now, not so calmly, I go back to the counter, explain everything to the nice lady there, and ask if I can pay 1/2 of the fee in Lilongwe, and the other 1/2 in Johannesburg (my next stopover).<br /><br />"No, you can't do that." Ya, I should've known.<br /><br />"Can I carry one of the bags?"<br /><br />"You could carry the small one."<br /><br />"I can carry on 3 bags?" (I already had my laptop and a shoulder bag).<br /><br />"Yes, that's fine."<br /><br />"And not pay the fee?"<br /><br />"Yes." (which means 'No' in a tag question in Malawian English--if you're confused, then you're reading it right)<br /><br />"Thank you so much!"<br /><br />Whew... crisis averted. Time for teary goodbye. I'll spare the details of that one. It was very very hard. I'll miss Deliwe a lot. And not just the cooking and cleaning. She became, and will always be, my very best friend in Malawi. Full stop. (another of my favorite British expressions). <br /><br />So, I get through security (again feeling panicked as I realized ALL my toiletries were in the small backpack I'd just retrieved, and back home they'd all be chucked in the bin-- ironically, they made it through in Jo-burg as well). When I arrived at JFK, South African Airways checked the small backpack in for me, free of charge. Ya, good travel spirits were with me that weekend.<br /><br />The flight between Johannesburg and JFK (New York) was very interesting as well, as I ended up sitting right next to a woman named Gift, the librarian from the Public Affairs Office at the U.S. Embassy in Lilongwe. Though we'd only met a couple of times, it was quite a coincidence. What a small world! Same flight, huge jumbo jet, and there we were, seated right next to one another. Imagine the odds. She was also on the same flight from JFK to D.C. Small world... smaller 'n smaller every day...<br /><br />The only other event worth reporting is that, despite the fact that all travel went smoothly after the over-baggage fee scare, the last leg of the journey had its little kinks... at first it looked like it was going to be delayed, but then it departed very close to the originally-scheduled time. Of course, since I live in a small town in upstate New York, it was a small puddle-jumpin propeller plane. I hate those... bumpy, scary landing, but we all white-knuckled it and survived.<br /><br />When we arrived at the airport in Binghamton, NY (about an hour from where I live), we discovered that although we made it in one piece, our luggage did not make it at all. Ya, travel spirits... with ya one second, gone the next. Luckily, only 4 out of the total 10 or so people on the flight had checked luggage, so it didn't take too long to report it (once the baggage handlers/ground crew/ticket agents--ya, they do it all in these dinky aiports-- came back in from the tarmack). <br /><br />The next day (Tues., 10 June), one of the very same baggage handlers/ground crew/ticket agents delivered my 3 bags in his own vehicle. Whew! Travel spirits returned... Amazingly, all my goods were basically intact. Only the legs to my new chess/end table broke, and I was missing two small paintings (Word to the wise going to or leaving Africa-- bring anything small 'n valuable along in your carry-on-- I shoulda known better). All the big, heavy stuff was still there, so not bad. And that bag had a lock on it. Definitely an 'inside job.'<br /><br />So, all-in-all, my return was not unlike my Malawi experience. Full of surprises, never a dull moment, and quite a roller-coaster. Overloaded with cliches 'n metaphors? Perhaps. But that's Malawi. And Me.<br /><br />Don't worry, this is not the end. More stories to come, and the "Things I "miss" 'n "Things I don't miss" lists. And, of course, some pix 'n videos. I think I can get all of them up from here, with my boyfriend's super-duper-speedy internet connection (one of several amazing revelations upon my return). But don't expect it all right away. Tomorrow's my birthday (well, actually today--it's after midnight here), and I'll be in New York City until Wed. night. Ya, goin to see 'Spamelot' (Finally!) on Broadway Tues. evening. A bit worried (no, a LOT worried) about the sensory overload. Not sure I'm ready yet. Wish me luck.<br /><br />You know what that means... Tiwonana for now!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-78050276839045556472008-05-26T15:25:00.015-04:002008-06-14T12:34:31.743-04:00A bloody gooduglygreat launch!Now that a few days have passed since the much-anticipated launch of the Children's Reading Room at Village to Village Orphanage (Thurs. 22 May), I finally have the will, strength, and courage to write about it here. Let's just say it was one of the up-and-down days, which basically started good, then got a bit ugly, but ended great.<br /><br />Let's start with the good:<br /><br />After the initial shock which took place on Tues. after returning from my Zambia trip and realizing at least half of the Domasi College staff had not received invitations to the launch (followed by my usual reactions of shock, panic, and frustration), I had resolved to just distribute extra invitations and then make a flier to post around campus, most of which were printed/posted on Tues. & Wed. (ooh, this sounds like a 'bad' not a 'good' --- just settin' up the 'good'). I also spent a lot of time explaining that I was not the person in charge of sending the invites. That was being handled by other parties in another office, which shall go unnamed for obvious reasons. <br /><br />My own word-of-mouth and posting campaign seemed to bear more fruit than the aforementioned (I hardly ever get to use that word, so had to find an excuse, but not sure if I'm using it correctly) traditional printed invitation delivering campaign attempted in conjunction with that other entity that will remain a secret. In the end, it seemed most of my colleagues at Domasi College would be present at the launch. So, things were looking good by Thurs. morning (i.e. the morning of the launch). Ya, this is now the good part.<br /><br />As a result of my own informal word-of-mouth, flier posting, e-mailing, and shouting (he he just checkin if you're still readin--only a little shouting) campaign, in conjunction with arranging the details for food, drinks, site-readiness, and the like, I woke up on Thursday morning (i.e. launch day), feeling good. Am I overusing that very vague adjective? Well, o.k. Confident. Enthusiastic. Relaxed. Maybe too relaxed, as I realized a bit later. This leads me to the 'ugly' bit.<br /><br />The ugly bit:<br /><br />After waking up (ya, that's always ugly), I needed to meet with the general office manager (name censored) at about 8:00 a.m. I arrived not-so-promptly at about 8:15 a.m. The reason for the visit was to discuss the purchase of petrol (actually, diesel) fuel for the large flatbed truck (allegedly suffering from an empty fuel tank) to deliver chairs for the launch event to the orphanage site, which is about 1.5 km. away from Domasi College. The college was kind enough to let me borrow about 100 chairs for the event, but asked me to provide fuel for the truck, to which I agreed. I met with said manager (or is that aforementioned? ;-) to discuss the amount of fuel I needed to buy, and that person suggested it should be 5 litres to go a total of 3 km. (to the site and back), to which I agreed.<br /><br />I had a few small items to take care of in my office, and this manager then said they'd leave the 5-litre bottle at the Porter's Lodge (like 'reception' or 'lobby' back home, but outside). I later went to pick it up, and checked with the drivers to make sure it'd be enough. At first they scoffed a bit, but then when I reminded them I was buying the fuel only for transporting chairs 1.5 km. each way, they agreed that 5 litres would be fine. o.k. good.<br /><br />So, off I went to Zomba to run this little errand. Since I was short on cash, I needed to stop at the bank to withdraw money from the ATM, after which I did my usual errand of buying pre-paid Celtel cell-phone cards from the lovely young ladies selling them just outside the bank property (since they're not allowed legally to sell them on bank grounds, though they usually wander in anyway...). <br /><br />After buying a ridiculous amount of cellphone units since my ground phone hasn't worked for months due to phone-line thieves (won't go there now), something very strange happened. I was walking on the pathway through the lush, overly-tended garden and lawn (the only place I've ever seen a sprinkler here) in front of the bank, when an older man (maybe in his 60's) pointed at me, yelling, "What nationality are you??!!" in a very accusatory tone. Of course, I gave him that shocked, annoyed, 'Jennifer' look (those who know me well also know it well), and kept walking. He then said (in the same tone), "Are you British?" Oh, how could he accuse me of such a crime? British? Bloody Hell!! (That was for you, Tim... just to see if you're actually readin' this 'ugly American' tripe... ;-) By this point, I'd passed him, so I looked back, and calmly said, "No, I'm just me..."<br /><br />I think that's when it happened. What's 'it', you ask? Keep readin...<br /><br />So, I calmly walked to my car, and drove on to the BP filling station. Once I arrived, I realized that I wasn't sure whether to buy 'petrol' (bloody brit term for gas) or diesel (luckily we 'yanks' use the same word)... So, I reached for my phone, and Sh--! It wasn't there. Not in my pocket, not in my purse, not under the car seat or in the car door. Gone. At home? I was pretty sure not, but not absolutely sure. Soon after that, I filled the bloody 5-litre bottle with diesel (at that point I didn't care anymore), and headed back to DCE. This is where it got REALLY ugly.<br /><br />The REALLY ugly part:<br /><br />After obsessing during the entire 20-25 min. drive back to Domasi as to whether I'd left the phone at home or not, I turn onto the small road to campus, and while approaching the gate, what do I see??? No, I didn't just see that. Was that a white pick-up truck loaded with chairs for the launch, headed in the direction of the orphanage? No, it couldn't be. I'm just hallucinating. This can't be right.<br /><br />Oh, no--- no hallucination. After a short trip home to check for my phone and not finding it (ya, that strange, angry, nationality-interrogation man was the decoy for the pickpocketer -- is that a word?---). AAARGH! So, there I was, getting ready for the biggest event of my stay here, with no phone, basically due to a trip to Zomba to buy fuel that apparently was NOT needed in the first place!! Grrrrrr....<br /><br />Oh, ya... It was not a pretty scene... After finding a certain colleague to help me call my phone to confirm it was really lost (lovely, calm female British-accented voice saying, "I'm sorry, the number you've dialed cannot be reached at the moment. Please try again later...") For those unseasoned cellphone owners in Malawi, if you've misplaced your phone, and you manage to call your number and get this answer, it's gone. It means someone has taken the 'sim-card' from the inside of the phone and plans to use it or sell it. Say goodbye. Forever. But, I did get my revenge later. Keep readin...<br /><br />So, back to the whole diesel-buyin thing... I proceeded back to the general office where I was told by the anonymous manager mentioned before that the bottle of diesel I was delivering was actually 'replacement fuel,' and that it would be put into the college bus to transport staff to the event. Very upset about this (not because I'm against transporting people, but because of the blantant and shameless deception of it all), I stormed into the transportation officer's office to confirm. This person also very calmly told me that the purpose of my trip to Zomba to buy this bottle of gas (and lose my phone in the process) was to buy 'replacement fuel' to transport staff to the event. He'd even told staff members (who were perfectly capable, willing, and fully intending to walk, as they assured me later) that I had 'arranged for the bus' to transport them to the event.<br /><br />Now, I don't want to sound like a callous, uncaring person who feels that transporting chairs is more important than transporting people. The problem here is principle. I was told that the chairs could not be transported without fuel. Then, as I'm returning from purchasing said fuel, I see 1 of at least 2 pick-up trucks transporting chairs to the site. Then, I'm told that the fuel I bought will be used to transport people to the event, most of whom were able and willing to walk. Remember, it's only 1.5 km (about 1 mile) away. The managers in question, instead of just asking me whether I'd be willing to arrange for transport of staff, essentially 'duped' me into doing this, while certainly using more fuel for the combined transport of the chairs and people than they ever would have used for just the chairs. In the end, I was deceived, and the college ended up with less fuel for their vehicles than they had when this whole scheme had started. Not only was it sneaky and downright deceptive, but it was completely illogical. Ugly. Very, very ugly.<br /><br />From there, things could only go up, right? Well, sort of... I proceeded to accept the situation, forced myself to calm down, remember the reasons for the event, and be thankful that enough of my colleagues wanted to come that they could actually fill a bus. That was pretty cool. Not only that, but I learned of a scheme to find the pricks who took my phone, or to at least find my phone. Focus on the positive. Silver lining. Puppies. Kitties. Deep breaths. In, out, in, out...<br /><br />But, not to the 'great' ending yet. After changing into my dress-up clothes (featuring a new traditional Malawian-style blouse just tailored a few days prior), I headed down to the kitchen to pick up the cooks, 300 samosas, and about 180 bottled sodas (minerals, as they refer to them here...not sure why... are there minerals in coke? fanta? sprite? Is that a dumb question? Probably, but anyway...). <br /><br />Ironically, at this point I was thinkin happy thoughts... nothing more could go wrong now, could it? Ha!<br /><br />I arrived at the previously-arranged time of 1:00 p.m. (earlier that day when I had a phone), outside the kitchen gate, to find nobody. No food. No minerals (except maybe the iron gate). And, of course, I had no phone to call anyone. Panic started to set in, but I was running out of energy for that. I just tried to calmly look for someone, and luckily someone was around who helped me find the head cook, who told me he had no cloth to cover the samosas because his boss was not there. I'm not sure what the boss had to do with the covering cloths. Maybe they're very valuable and he keeps them in a safe somewhere. I couldn't be bothered with wondering why. Right after I headed to the trunk of my car to retrieve the windshield sun-shade to use as a cover, the head cook produced some for me. At that point, I didn't care where they'd come from or how... I just said, "ok, let's get in the car." <br /><br />But oh, the minerals. Iron, zinc, copper... or was it fantas, cokes, and sprites? At this point, I didn't care anymore. But of course nothing had been retrieved from the cooler prior to my arrival (btw, showtime was 2:30 p.m., and it was approaching quickly). More time. More energy. Head cook runs somewhere to get a key. To open the gate. To open the kitchen (they had cooked in a different kitchen--the main one has no functioning stove... ya, that makes sense.). Mad rush to the cooler. Take out 8 crates of minerals. Pack in car. Everyone gets in. Samosas on laps. Off we go. Puppies. Kitties. Deep Breaths.<br /><br />Once we got to the site, things were looking better, but still needed a bit of 'Jenniferizing"-- hey, I like that new-fangled-ego-crazed-verb... I wanted the event to be outside. Alfred (Village to Village Director) wanted it inside. He won. But, I got to change the direction of the chairs so they faced a better-lighted area. The 'inside' was a great hall (i.e. auditorium) that is quite dark and a bit dingy. Which is why I wanted to do things outside. But, the outside area was a bit too sunny, dusty, and informal for the big chiefs (traditional authorities) and other V.I.P's, so we had to hold the event in the dark. People who know me know I hate dark, dank, closed-in, inside places. I prefer open, airy, sunny, or, better yet, outside. Oh, well. I lost that battle, but in the end, things did get better. OK, the great part now.<br /><br />The GREAT part:<br /><br />The event went almost without a hitch. A good 120 or so people came, most from Domasi College (on the Jennifer-catered bus, of course), and many from the surrounding community, including some of my colleagues from Chanco. The two public affairs officers from Lilongwe (the capital) appeared impressed at what they saw, as did everyone else. There were speeches given by Alfred, myself (and I didn't totally screw it up, though my jokes pretty much fell flat--I'm blaming cultural difference and formal decorum for that), one of the chiefs, Public Affairs Officer John Warner (who, I must say, was very complimentary of the project and my efforts. Nice when that happens from someone in authority. Can be a rare occurrance, and DCE Principal Dr. Chakwera, who also was very complimentary and so gracious to agree to be our guest of honor at relatively short-notice a week and 1/2 prior to the event. <br /><br />The reading room was toured by all, and all appeared impressed. Samosas were gobbled. Minerals were chugged. Faces were covered with smiles. Ya, it was a great event, with a happy ending. Except for my own cultural fau pauxes (AH! How do you spell that?), including asking everyone to get up and get something to eat in bloody yank style when I guess it's not appropriate to do so before the chiefs (decorum just makes me so bloody uncomfortable), it all went almost without a hitch. I was the only hitch. But I'm a Mzungu, so everyone here seems to have more patience with me. At least it appears that way most of the time. <br /><br />And, it gets better. After it was all over, I dropped off the cooks, the empty bottles, and trays, and rushed to Zomba to see if I could report my stolen phone. Amazingly, the Celtel store was still open after 5 p.m., the ladies were very nice and told me what to do (had to get a search warrant from my buddies at the Zomba Police Station the next day--they know me by name now... lucky me!)-- not only that, but I was able to buy a new sim-card with the same phone number. However, since I'm leaving Malawi soon, I hesitated to buy a new phone, hoping to find a good used one or to borrow one. <br /><br />Right after leaving the store, the most amazing thing happened. I went to visit my friend Dr. Maseko (who's also buying my car) to discuss the car purchase, told him about the lost phone, and he offered to let me borrow one of his 'extra' phones until I leave Malawi!<br /><br />Now, that's a GREAT ending, eh? Aren't you glad you actually made it to the end? Same phone number, borrowed phone, most of my saved contacts replaced, all's well that ends well, or so they say.<br /><br />After that up 'n down marathon, I'd better save Zambia for the next post. Thanks for comin along for the ride (again) on M'n M! ;-) Tiwonana!!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-5464219927437425612008-05-21T12:48:00.003-04:002008-05-21T13:32:48.292-04:00Back from Zambia, head spinnin...So, it's about one week and one day after my last post, and I'm alive to tell the tale... I had a fabulous trip, both in Lilongwe and at South Luongwa National Park in Zambia. Of course, it was a much-needed respite from the craziness that had been going on here in Domasi a couple of days prior to my escape. <br /><br />For those who are wondering about the condition of things at my home, luckily Harold has not returned. However, Dorothy has continued to stay on the property with her young daughter Miracle. Her sons have been staying with her mother. Today, we talked about the situation, and it looks like she'll be moving in with her mother soon, while also working on building a house in her mother's village. Right now, Dorothy and her family are saying that Harold is no longer welcome in the family, and they are supporting an official divorce. For Dorothy's sake, I hope that this will be the case. She seems to have some good support in her family members, and I think they will take good care to make sure she and the kids are safe and healthy. I've also done my part to help her succeed as she ventures out on her own, the details of which I'll keep to myself. Let's just say with Deliwe's wise advice, we found a way to help Dorothy without also assisting her violent alcoholic husband in the process. Through Deliwe, I hope to also receive updates on how the family is doing after they go (and also after I leave Malawi), and of course, I do expect them to come around and visit while I'm still here (up to June 1, though I'm still waiting for a confirmed travel itinerary--more on that later).<br /><br />Back to the story of my week away: My first night was spent in Lilongwe, catching up with Kate and her boyfriend, and meeting up with a few new people as well. I didn't realize at first how much I needed that kind of escape... just being around other foreign visitors (all I met were much shorter-term than myself), and sharing stories of African travel and overseas living experiences. It really helped to get my mind off of the upsetting events I had just experienced here.<br /><br />The coolest (and, of course, most ironic) aspect of it all was the fact that I met some of the most interesting, friendly, engaging people I've met so far since I've come to this country (both in Lilongwe and during my stay in Zambia)... funny how that always happens when you're about to leave a place. <br /><br />For now, I'll save the detailed stories and pix from my trip, but hopefully those will be posted by Friday. Right now, I'm very busy planning our official launch event for the Children's Reading Room Project at Village to Village Orphanage which takes place tomorrow afternoon (22 May)--which also is the reason my head is spinnin' (not to mention the fact that time is running out for all the other things I have to do--but I'll worry 'bout that stuff later). <br /><br />Most of the major planning work is finished, so now I just have to do the hard part... get presentable and then present, without letting my usual stage fright turn me into a bumbling idiot... wish me luck on that! (A sidenote-- I even had a traditional Malawian dress made to wear at the occasion... had to have some things adjusted, and will go home to try it on soon...I'm a bit nervous 'bout that)<br /><br />As a quick update, the Reading Room project is now up and running, and doing quite well! We officially opened on Thurs. 8 May, and are keeping regular open hours of 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. We chose 8 May as our opening date because it was just 2 days after receiving a HUGE shipment of books from Florida, sent by the amazingly generous book donations of the students from Pine Ridge Middle School!! Because of the hundreds of books they sent (a total of 12 'M' bags from the U.S. Postal Service, if I remember the number correctly), our shelves were full of books for kids of all reading levels, and we were then able to open our doors (though it did take us another full day to finish stocking the books and finalizing volunteer staff).<br /><br />We have a great staff of 6 volunteers: 2 adults, including one retired primary school teacher (Mr. Chawanda-- watch for pix of him later), one volunteer teacher at Village to Village Secondary School, and 4 teenage secondary school students (one of which is Deliwe's brother Movuto, who has been a great help before and during our opening). Right now, all of our volunteers are men/boys, so we're still looking for some women/girls to help us out as well. <br /><br />Of course, I've visited the Reading Room several times since we opened the doors, and things are going very well. At times, I've had to summon up (and also suppress) my 'German side' which wants to keep the books perfectly tidy at all times, but in the process, I've also managed to help instill the importance of taking care of the space and the books to the kids, which is part of this whole process. Let's just say when I came in one day to a disorderly pile of books on the bottom shelf (also the most popular shelf, as it's got the more basic-level English story books), I made sure to leave it there for the kids to straighten up, after my German side gave them a firm, but gentle reminder of how to leave the place the way they found it-- don't worry, no hitting or screaming involved... I'd had quite enough of that by last week Monday (Which is when I gave the 'the talk').<br /><br />What I love about these kids the most, though, is that after I gave them 'the talk', they were very eager to clean everything up, and have since done an impressive job of taking care of their new library. They're fast learners, and very eager to please. The best part is that they're really loving their new place, and I can see the joy it is bringing them, as well as the appreciation of the community members who really seem to see the potential the reading room holds for improving literacy education in this region.<br /><br />So, tomorrow we show off our hard work to the world (well, our world here in Domasi, anyway). I'll be sure to give a full report of that, as well as my escape to Lilongwe/Zambia, and of course, the pictures to go along with it all...<br /><br />Tiwonana (maybe mawa)!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-60049192806711612822008-05-13T07:08:00.005-04:002008-05-13T07:42:07.117-04:00Much-needed escape to ZambiaHello, again. This is intended to be a quick post to let everyone know that I'm alive and in one piece, somewhat against the odds after the ordeal I had Sunday night with the Gardener. Without giving all the ugly details, let's just say he went too far this time. How? Let me count the ways:<br /><br />1) He got drunk again, less than a week after his 'sincere' promise to quit drinking after last weekend's incident.<br /><br />2) He chased and violently threatened his wife into my home.<br /><br />3) He chased and threatened Deliwe and I inside my home.<br /><br />4) He did all of these things in front of his two sons (again, for the 2nd time in a week), whom I had to 'shelter' in my bedroom during an hour-long ordeal).<br /><br />5) When I managed to get him out of the house, he harrassed us by yelling into the windows about how his wife Dorothy was 'a prostitute,' cheating on him with his best friend, and that somehow Deliwe was involved in this (clearly a bunch of nonsense induced by strong homemade liquor, a vivid imagination, and maybe some other substances--very strange, disturbing, and scary).<br /><br />I managed to contact Mr. Banda (Housing Director) in the midst of all this, who brought a driver and security guard to restrain Harold and take him to the Police Station. The following morning (Monday 12 May), Deliwe, Dorothy, Harold's 'accused' friend, and I went to the police station and filed reports. I'll try to tell more about that experience in a later post. It was very interesting in many ways.<br /><br />Oh, ya, I almost forgot-- after Harold was taken in, we realized his young daughter Miracle was locked inside his house and there was no key. We had to go to the police station to try to get it from him (as he had locked the door somehow during his rage--before I'd come home from the office), but he didn't have it. We ended up having to get a DCE driver to wake up the carpenter at around 11:30 p.m. to come and break into the house (since there's no spare key). Of course, Dorothy found the key in their bathroom the next morning... apparently they'd forgotten to look there the night before...<br /><br />As far as I know, Harold is still in police custody. He no longer works for me, nor is he allowed on my property. Mr. Banda also plans to make sure he does not work for any DCE staff on campus again. <br /><br />Needless to say, the entire thing was not only traumatic, but incredibly embarrassing for the public nuisance it caused. Please wish all of us luck in dealing with the aftermath, and in our hopes that Harold indeed stays away. We do have security guards on campus whom Mr. Banda has requested pay special attention to our property for the remainder of my stay here. <br /><br />The sad thing is the kids. I'll really miss them, and I'm worried sick about them. For now, Dorothy will be staying with her mother, but likely Harold will join her again before long, and the cycle is likely to continue. For their (the kids' and Dorothy's) sake, I hope something gets done about it. Again, more later on the futility of this wish on my part.<br /><br />For now, the good news is that I'm leaving town for a few days, headed to Lilongwe and then to Zambia for a quick safari ending Sunday, 18 May. I think I mentioned this in my last post. During this time, please send good vibes our way for safety for Deliwe (she'll have some friends over while I'm gone, plus our trusty guard dogs borrowed from the next door neighbor), as well as a safe journey for me.<br /><br />I may try to post once more before I go, but just in case, Tiwonana next week! (hopefully still in one piece)...Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-22740280274583780412008-05-11T13:54:00.010-04:002008-05-13T06:33:00.666-04:00The good, the bad, and the ugly...Hey! Are you all still there? The faithful? The Loyal? The not-so-faithful, nor not-so-loyal? Well, I'm still here... in Malawi, that is... Hoping to get back in the swing of the bloggin' thing soon, as finally I'm almost myself again. <br /><br />Now, it's down to about 3-4 weeks left here (still waitin for official itinerary, which is the reason for the non-committal (is that a word?) time frame... Not that I'm countin the days or anything, but I must say I have my moments... the good, the o.k., and the not-so-good. Or, shall we say, the good, the bad, and the ugly... Ya, I like that. In fact, I'll make it my title now (writing title, already written by the time you see this). Ya, it's a borrowed cliche from an old Clint Eastwood western (if I'm not mistaken), but a good one for this post...<br /><br />So, here it is, my life here, as of late... I'll start with the good:<br /><br /><strong>THE GOOD #1:</strong><br /><br />I had a really cool visitor come to see me most of the week right after we lost Penga. Her name is Kate, and she's here on a short-term project with the UNDP (United Nations Development Program, for the international-organization-acronym challenged). Luckily, she'd been working with the USDOS (U.S. Dept. of State, for the U.S. Govt.-acronym challenged) when she'd decided to take on this small project, and they told her about me, saying something like, "I think we have an English Language Fellow posted in Malawi." (A good --well, decent-- joke about the USDOS has been recently censored here due to sensitive nature of subject and certain people formerly and currently being paid by them-- I'll just leave the last part in, and you can try to figure out the rest). <em>Last part of censored joke:</em> Could explain why our country's foreign policy is a complete disaster (well, besides that guy in the White House, but don't get me started)...<br /><br />Eventually, Kate got my contact info, e-mailed me before coming over, and also called me when she arrived in early April. After a short stay in Blantyre, she came to the Zomba region for her research and stayed with Deliwe and I. During her stay, we had a great time, just chatting and enjoying some of the tourist attractions of the area, including Liwonde National Park (where we actually stayed at the fancy Mvuu Camp Deliwe and I wandered into during our first visit there in Oct. '07-- we also had a GREAT elephant adventure there!!), Zomba Plateau, Lake Chilwa (not much to see, but at least we saw it), and the one 'site' I've actually visited in Blantyre-- David Livingstone's mission church built in the late 1800's. That was actually the first place we visited when we met up on Tues., 22 April. Afterwards, I stayed one night in Kate's room at Kabula Lodge (very nice, affordable place with a great view, for those lookin for somewhere to stay in Blantyre). <br /><br />Kate stayed with Deliwe and I for the next week, leaving early in the morning on Friday 2 May, and her stay couldn't have been at a better time, since we were still reeling from what had happened to our kitty Penga. Kate was very sympathetic to our sadness over our loss, and also a fun and interesting person to have around, so helped take our minds off of this terrible thing we'd just experienced.<br /><br />This leads me to:<br /><br /><strong>THE BAD #1:</strong><br /><br />Kate left. Now, we really miss her as we'd gotten used to having her around, and she also was using the room we'd kept Penga's food and litter box in... so, of course, things felt really empty and a bit sad again. Especially Sunday. Sundays are really hard for me these days.<br /><br /><strong>THE UGLY #1:</strong> <br /><br />The trip to Zambia with the aerobics group fell through at the last minute, leaving me to figure out a way to go on my own. I spent a lot of time/money (for phone calls) trying to find someone else with time/money to go with me. Couldn't find a soul. Kate (who'd been travellin with her boyfriend since she'd left) had gone on a safari in Zambia with her boyfriend this past Thurs. (8 May) to today (Sun. 10 May), so asking her was not an option. Which leads me to:<br /><br /><strong>THE GOOD #2:</strong><br /><br />I found a way to go to Zambia on my own with the same safari group this coming week, and visit Luongwa National Park, which Kate just told me today is spectacular. I haven't seen a lion, zebra, or a giraffe in Malawi (not many here), so I'm excited for the close encounters she's told me about.<br /><br /><strong>THE BAD #2:</strong><br /><br />I don't get to see Victoria Falls, unfortunately (my primary goal of this trip).<br /><br /><strong>THE UGLY #2:</strong><br /><br />I'll be travelling alone, with one other couple whom I don't know. I hope they're cool. Chances are about 30/70, based on my experiences here so far. (30 percent that they'll be cool, unfortunately... though I have had better luck with 'travelling/temporary' mzungus here than I've had with the more permanent ones living here (one reason I'm travelling alone...It's not me, though... this I know, as I've never experienced this before anywhere else-- more on that issue another time...)<br /><br />To end this post on a high note, I'll finish with a few more of the 'Goods':<br /><br /><strong>THE GOOD #3</strong> Despite what some may have believed, the investigation of the ridiculous excuse for a vet Dr. Bakili has begun. I've been in contact with certain members of the board, the 2 doctors who saw her on that horrible day filed reports last week, and the latest I hear is that the board is set to meet on the issue very soon. Keep the good vibes and prayers comin on that one... it seems to be working!<br /><br /><strong>THE GOOD #4:</strong> The Children's Reading Room at Village to Village Orphanage is now open for 'business'. Most of the books from the U.S. (98% of which were from the Pine Ridge Middle School book drive in FL) came in on Tues., we stocked the shelves Tues. and Wed., and opened our doors to the kids on Thurs., 8 May. After a quick orientation to 'Jennifer's Rules,' by myself and our primary volunteer Alex (retired primary school teacher-- PERFECT for the job), the reading began. Soon I'll post some pix of the resulting happy faces. We're also planning a launch on 22 May with all the local V.I.P's (including my colleagues of course) hopefully in attendance... Whew! It's finally happening!<br /><br /><br /><strong>THE GOOD #5:</strong> I finished my class at Chanco this past Thursday, and was actually a bit sad about it, as they turned out to be a really good group. They gave me all the credit saying that I was a great instructor. It was really nice to end that on a high note, as I'd felt so badly for teaching them on such a short-term basis. In fact, I will miss them, as I'd already gotten a bit attached to this group. They were very committed students, and had great attitudes... even laughed at most of my jokes (even the lame ones) during class. Too bad the strike kept us from working together longer. Hopefully the next instructor (I'm told to be hired this week... hmmm...) will have a similar experience to mine. Good luck LAN 150 & 160! Hope your stay at Chanco is relatively strike-free and you finish within 4 to 5 years!! ;-)<br /><br /><br />So now, I must sign off, as I'm waiting for a visit from my gardener, whom I've discovered has an issue with domestic abuse (Ya, another 'ugly' unfortunately), stemming from a problem with alcohol. I came very close to kicking him off my property for good last week, but settled for a visit to the police (who told me that violence related to a 'domestic dispute' is not against the law-- ya, they got a piece of my mind that day--), followed by a serious counseling session in which he promised not to drink anymore, as this seems to be the source of his intermittent violent temper. Two strikes and he's out. I suppose this is a personal issue, so I'll just leave it at that. I have no tolerance for either alcoholism nor violence. Though I wouldn't normally write something of such a personal nature here, I feel compelled, as it's now in my backyard and doesn't seem to be going away (though up to this moment I thought everything was fine). <br /><br />I'm relatively certain that deep down this man is a good person, which makes it hard to take such action. If he raises a hand to anyone on my property again, he's out (don't worry, the family can stay). By the way, this is a VERY common issue in Malawi... more on that later, too...<br /><br />Wish me luck, and sorry to end with an 'ugly,' but unfortunately the timing (a phone call from him minutes ago) was the catalyst. I'll keep you posted. Tiwonana Mawa!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-42731726475804142902008-05-04T13:17:00.002-04:002008-05-04T13:45:18.463-04:00I'm back, but only for a moment...I just wanted to check in to let the loyal M 'n M readers know that I'm still among the living. Life continues to hurl its euphoric (well, not completely) ups and relentless downs for me in Malawi. I had planned to chronicle it all here today, but have had a few internet/technical issues, so hopefully I can get it all out there tomorrow.<br /><br />Something very shocking happened last night at my household (not quite as shocking as the Penga story, but equally disturbing). Other than that, things had been going a bit better, and we even had a lovely guest in our house by the name of Kate. She's an American here on a short-term research project with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Luckily, she stayed with us during the week after we lost Penga, so the house didn't feel so empty, and we had a great time together, seeing all the local sites together like typical Mzungu tourists. Ya, I needed that.<br /><br />All the details to come very soon (and yes, those belated elephant pix!!). Tiwonana for now!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-59933116401156341842008-04-27T12:18:00.005-04:002008-04-27T13:42:30.143-04:00Sadness, Regret, Shock, Anger...I'm just writing briefly to let the loyal Malawi 'n Me readers know that I have no other excuse for not writing this past week except for sadness over the loss of our beloved cat Penga last week Sunday evening (April 20). Though my last post on that same evening was quite hopeful, as it turned out, the risks involved after Penga's ordeal that day were greater than I had realized prior to leaving Dr. Mutunga's (a.k.a. the good vet's) office in Blantyre last Sunday afternoon. Apparently, the intestines were paralyzed from prolonged exposure, so in the end, Penga was not able to recover, and died at around 8 p.m. that evening. <br /><br />I received this information on Monday morning, via a phone call from Dr. Mutunga soon after surviving my court battle over the expired license-plate registration (which ironically went well, resulting in a mere MK 1,000 fine--about 8 bucks-- and about 3 hours' time lost waiting at the police station and the court.). <br /><br />Ever since, my emotions have primarily shifted between sadness (over our loss), regret (over my trust of that sh-- for brains vet), shock (at the events that led to our loss), and anger (at that sh-- for brains vet). <br /><br />The overriding emotion now is primarily anger at the lousy excuse for a veterinarian by the name of Dr. Oliver Bakili (based in Lilongwe, but also practicing part-time at the vet clinic in Zomba, as a warning to the Malawian pet owners out there), whose lack of professionalism and compassion, combined with a sloppy suturing job and dishonesty about his small-animal surgical abilities, caused this horrible outcome. <br /><br />I'm now working on using this anger to get justice by going after the above-mentioned so-called vet for malpractice and negligence. Without going into details (due to the sensitive nature of this case and the public nature of this forum), let's just say the battle is now well-underway. <br /><br />So now, I'm just asking for all those reading this who care about animals to send good vibes my way, and all those who pray to please do so, in hopes for justice in this matter, whatever you deem that justice to be. For me, it's permanent revocation of Dr. Bakili's veterinary license, or at the very least, a years-long suspension, huge fine, and re-training prior to any continued practice in veterinary medicine.<br /><br />Hopefully I'll be online again before too long with better news, and some good elephant pix from up north (finally!) Watch for those, trickling in this week, as I continue the post-mourning healing process. <br /><br />Tiwonana for now...Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-51107257334047602942008-04-20T12:59:00.008-04:002008-04-20T13:54:28.373-04:00'Cold-stone' hearts vs. 'Warm' hearts -- a very tough battle today...I just wanted the loyal/faithful M 'n M readers to know that I did not forget about the elephant pix this weekend, but due to an all-day-and-most-of-the-night power outage yesterday, I was unable to upload any pix. Of course, my plan was to do so today, but I had one of my most difficult, and certainly the most traumatic, days in this country for me so far. <br /><br />Remember this comment from my last post? <br /><br /><br /><strong><em>2) Penga managed to pull out some stitches Wed. night, causing some panic yesterday (Thurs.) morning, as I called the vet in a bit of a state, worried all her innards would drop to the floor. Luckily, my panic was unjustified, as she seems to be healing o.k. (despite my failed efforts to put a bandage on it, as well as a collar to try to restrain her from biting her wound). She's a pretty strong-willed, energetic little kitty, and luckily hasn't managed to remove more stitches, so we think she'll be o.k. I'm pretty certain, however, that the vet thinks I'm a bit crazy. That's o.k. He's not the first to think so, and certainly not likely to be the last.</em></strong><br /><br />Well, as it turns out, unfortunately, I was NOT crazy, NOR over-reacting. Penga pulled out more stitches on Saturday, and again my pleas to the vet that morning to take a look at her went ignored. He offered to re-suture her on Monday, saying I didn't need to worry about her. I definitely put way too much faith in him, as my fears about her wound opening up were realized this morning. Without going into too much detail, what I described above is exactly what happened. Upon the discovery, of course, I panicked, as did Deliwe. Luckily, Harold (our gardner) was around to help us. <br /><br />Of course, I called the illustrious HACK of a vet by the name of Dr. Bakili, whom I'm hoping to report to some sort of veterinary standards board (if such a thing exists here) and do my best to get his license revoked. He showed no concern AT ALL for my cat, and even when I described what had happened this morning, the only 'help' he offered was the phone no. of his assistant in Zomba (claiming he himself was in Blantyre), who agreed to meet me at the clinic, and then never showed up. We sat outside the clinic with our falling-apart kitty (suprisingly lucid through it all) for over an hour, trying to call every contact at that bloody clinic, and NO ONE would HELP us! <br /><br />Please forgive me, but today I felt this "Warm Heart of Africa" slogan needed a drastic edit: "Cold-stone Heart of Africa." <br /><br />Now, I know it's a cat, and not all cultures view pets the same way as Americans do. But, this guy was a veterinarian, assured me he had experience with cats, and could handle this surgery. I now know he was lying just to make an extra buck (about $35 USD, btw...)<br /><br />Eventually, we did find a doctor friend of mine who runs his own clinic, and was able to help us find a real vet in Blantyre. The doctor called her, and she said as long as we wrapped the cat in a wet towel to keep her innards wet, she should survive the hour-long trip to the office to be re-sutured. Hallelujah.<br /><br />But, the story of today's ugliness is not yet over. As we'd found a bit of renewed hope that we could save our kitty--Harold had her secured on the floor wrapped in the towel, she was still lucid, but calm, and didn't seem to be in pain (amazingly)-- we thought things might be o.k. Then, I end up at the first traffic stop outside of town, where of course they stopped me for the FIRST TIME EVER! I've learned that whenever I'm in a hurry, that's when those cops decide to scrutinize me. Of course, the illustrious cop looked at my driver's license and noticed that my license plates had expired at the end of March. I tried to explain that I'd been told there was a 30-day waiting period, and that I was planning to renew them this coming Tuesday. After a bit of panicked discussion (the details of which I cannot bear to re-hash right now), he of course confiscated my drivers' license, wrote me up a ticket, and told me I must appear for court in the morning. Great. Just let me go, A*&Hole. <br /><br />So after that ordeal, we headed to the city, made it to the vet's office, where a nice young female vet from Kenya was waiting for us, ready to take care of Penga. Again, despite how dire it all looked (as you can imagine) the doctor was very calm, and said Penga would be o.k., that the only worry was keeping things moist, and getting good sutures on her. She put her under, and sent me outside to wait. So, we waited. And we prayed. Ya, even me. I don't do that much, but now understand that perhaps it can help, as in the end, our kitty was o.k., sutured up very well. She even gave her an I.V. drip of fluids to replace the ones she lost, telling me that all her innards were o.k., nothing was damaged (amazingly, considering some details I've left out of the story involving the way Penga moved around during a lot of this), and she didn't lose too much blood since there was no damage to the organs.<br /><br />She also recommended (right after I requested it) to keep Penga for a couple of days to make sure her insides remain o.k. (mostly the intestines), and just keep a good eye on her. She also did an incredible suturing job, that looked like it should. The stitches were small, tight, and very close to one another. I realized then what a real hack that idiot in Zomba is... her sutures last week were too far apart, didn't look tight enough, and had long 'tails' at the end that she could easily bite off. The Blantyre Vet (Dr. Catherine K. Mutunga at the Mudi Clinic across from Maiawathu Hospital-- info. for the Malawian pet-lovers, especially) assured me that the first suturing job was not adequate, especially because the internal stitches were only done on one layer of tissue, when they should be done on two (which of course she had done). "One internal layer is not strong enough to hold," she told me.<br /><br />So, now Penga is comfortably (hopefully) sleeping at the vet's house (her clinic is at her house) in Blantyre, and seems to be in good hands. I'll be picking her up on Wed., after taking care of the bloody license plate renewal on my car, assuming I'm not thrown in jail after my court appearance tomorrow.<br /><br />Ya, bloody 'Warm Heart of Africa', alright. (Sorry, but that's how I feel right now... luckily, I did meet up with 2 'warm hearts' today-- plus, the watchman outside of the vet clinic who let us borrow his cell phone all day--to call the lame cold-stone hearts supposedly working there who couldn't be bothered to help us-- and also let us take the phone with us to make calls in Blantyre (since in all the panic, both Deliwe and I had left our cell phones at home). So that's one more 'warm heart.' <br /><br />As a result, the 'warm hearts' did win out over the 'cold-stone hearts' today, and it appears to be leading to a happy ending (both for Penga's health and, with any luck, my legal driving status--hope the judge is a 'warm heart'). We shall see... I'll keep you posted. <br /><br />I still can't believe I managed to write about this today. Was planning to keep it short, but I guess I needed the decompression of writing it all down. Thanks, loyal readers! Hope it wasn't as traumatic reading it as it was for those of us who experienced it...<br /><br />Tiwonana later (don't know when yet...)Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-71752196005061045892008-04-18T13:39:00.005-04:002008-04-18T14:59:31.579-04:00Makin' up for lost time...This latest blog has been a work in progress since Wed. 16 April, and as the loyal M 'n M readers (how do ya like that new shortened-version??? Perhaps a bit cliche? Comments welcome!!) will soon find out, its manuscript-style length can attest to the fact that I've been adding on for the past couple of days, and certainly making up for the last 3 lost days.<br /><br />I won't give more excuses, but the fact that it did start on Wed. shows that I did my best to get caught up on the now 2-week-old lake stories, while also updating readers on events of this past week. Updates include: <br /><br />1) Yes, I did start teaching at Chanco on Thursday and Friday, but due to my busy schedule as I wrap up my fellowship while furiously marking papers at Domasi College, I'll only teach for 4 weeks, and the two courses will be combined. The result is that I'll be in the classroom 3 hours/week (instead of 6), and I'll finish on May 9 (instead of later in the month). This was a compromise, but one I can live with.<br /><br />2) Penga managed to pull out some stitches Wed. night, causing some panic yesterday (Thurs.) morning, as I called the vet in a bit of a state, worried all her innards would drop to the floor. Luckily, my panic was unjustified, as she seems to be healing o.k. (despite my failed efforts to put a bandage on it, as well as a collar to try to restrain her from biting her wound). She's a pretty strong-willed, energetic little kitty, and luckily hasn't managed to remove more stitches, so we think she'll be o.k. I'm pretty certain, however, that the vet thinks I'm a bit crazy. That's o.k. He's not the first to think so, and certainly not likely to be the last.<br /><br />3) I've decided to limit my adventures this weekend, and just stay put and get some work done, after the week away up north, and last Saturday on the lake with my aerobics group. I'll hopefully also have time to get this blog up to date with pictures, especially the elephants at Vwaza Marsh, and maybe the day at the lake as well. Wish me luck! <br /><br />OK, so the rest is the original post I started at home on Wed. evening and finally completed today. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br />Hello, again. I’m now back from the trauma of having Penga spayed, as well as dealing with the reality of having to start teaching again, just after having finished a term, and facing piles of marking. Not that I’m completely over the trauma yet, but now it’s manageable enough to enter another posting on the blog.<br /><br />I’d actually planned to get this one up last night (Wed. 16 April), but alas, the internet connection was not cooperating, so I’m here writing this one at home on Wed. evening, hoping to get it up on Thursday. If that happens, the two or so loyal, faithful Malawi ‘n Me readers will be the first to know.<br /><br />So, today was more or less a typical ‘my life in Malawi’ day. I spent much of it trying to get ready for the class I’d planned to meet for the first time this afternoon, typing up syllabi, class rosters, yadda yadda yadda, only to find out in the midst of it all that the head of my department wants to meet with me prior to my first meeting with the class to discuss how we’ll work out the schedule. So, for that reason, I needed to postpone my first meeting with them until tomorrow (Thurs.)afternoon. <br /><br />This new development freed me up to continue working on some of the things I needed to do to prepare, but despite all my good intentions, including 2 visits to the computer lab (one of 2 places on campus where I can print something), I still had difficulty getting my documents printed due to a paper jam that could not be resolved. Luckily, I got enough done to be almost ready for tomorrow’s class—that is, if I can meet with the dept. head prior to it… ya, there are 2 other meetings in the morning. This is how it seems to work at Chancellor College. The strike was over last week. The Deans then decided to start classes with first-years this week. Soon afterwards, the administration set up several meetings which conflict with class times. Hence, not many classes are meeting, anyway.<br /><br />The moral of this story is: My four weeks of teaching just turned into three weeks. Perhaps this will dwindle more, considering how things tend to go over there. I’ll keep ya posted.<br /><br />As you also know by now, Penga went under the knife on Monday afternoon, at the same time that I attended the meeting wherein it was decided that I would teach the first few weeks of two first-year courses at Chanco. I literally left the meeting at around 4 p.m. to pick her up (her surgery was at 2 p.m.). Of course, she was really ‘out of it’, but other than that, she seemed o.k. She slept most of the night, and in the morning, still seemed a bit weak. I was of course paying attention to whether she was pulling on her stitches, and observed that she was bleeding a bit from the stitched-up area.<br /><br />Now, the Americans out there will understand my panicked reaction, which was to call the vet, letting him know that she was bleeding. The Malawians, however, might think I’m a bit nuts for fussing over a cat. They don’t understand how we can treat our animals like our babies. But we do. I can’t explain exactly why, but we’re nuts for our pets back home. In my case, maybe it’s partly because I don’t have any children. I’m not sure, but I’ve always been very attached to my pets, and yesterday I worried all day about Penga as she recovered from somewhat major surgery.<br /><br />The vet did recommend that I take her in so he could look at the stitches, but when I did, he just took a look from outside the office, trimmed one of the longer ‘tails’ from a stitch so she wouldn’t tug it, and said, “Oh, that’s fine. Her muscles will bleed a little, but it’s not serious.” “Really?” I said, further questioning his professional opinion, “Are you sure?” “Yes, I’m sure,” he assertively responded, clearly annoyed at my Mzungu panic over a little cat. Like I said, we’re just like that. Can’t help it.<br /><br />So, the other Mzungu pet lovers out there will be happy to hear that though she continued to bleed a bit in the afternoon (I even had Deliwe watching her because I was invigilating/proctoring another exam), by nightfall yesterday (Tues.), Penga was almost back to normal, eating a bit, walking almost normally, and meowing faintly. <br /><br />Today, she seems to be generally back to her usual active, loud, hungry self. Whew! To me, the stitches still look a little more ‘open’ than I’d like, but I didn’t see any evidence of bleeding, so that’s good. They also seem to be intact, as it doesn’t appear that she’s bitten any off (by other major fear).<br /><br />So, with those two sources of stress this week more or less out of the way (but continuing), I suppose it’s time to reminisce a bit about the rest of our lake tour, now about 2 weeks ago.<br /><br />As you probably have noticed by now, I did post a few pix this past weekend of the trip back south down the lakeshore, including our last two stops on our way back home: Nkhotakhota and Salima. Unfortunately, I still can’t seem to get the pictures into the correct order, so they might just have to stay that way, unless I can find the 20-something blogger gurus to save me from the stress of trying to figure it out all by my little Generation (Jen) X self… oh, the horror!<br /><br />In any case, if you’ve had a chance to peruse the pix (Ya, the elephant ones are coming—I know, I know… but look at my ordeal this week, and you know why it’s taking so long... patience, patience…) Maybe if you’re good, you’ll get to see a VIDEO this time! OK, don’t hold your breath, but I’ll try… need one of those millennial kids… Anyone out there wanna help a poor JenX figure out how to use a computer? I’m pretty good… even learned DOS back in the day… can you say that? Do you even know what DOS is? Ya, I thought not… so there! You punks! But help me anyway, ok?? pretty please????? <br /><br />Ya, like that pathetic psychotic plea’s gonna work… Ya never know…<br /><br />OK, so I’ll get on with it now. After leaving our bamboo hut at the lovely, but beachless Nkhata Bay, we headed south down the fabulous M5 highway along the lake. This highway, by the way, seems to be the best-kept secret in Malawi. Since coming here, I thought there were only two types of roads: 1) Dirt/rocky/bumpy, or 2) narrow, pot-hole-ridden tarmac (i.e. ‘paved’ for the ‘Yanks’). Oh, no, not so. There’s also the M5. Forgive me for saying this, for it will sound a bit ethno/culture/nation-centric (ya, I made that term up, as you can imagine), but the M5 is like an American highway! Wide, nicely paved, smooth, no potholes, and with lines painted on it! You know, the middle lines? Haven’t seen those in awhile. And the ones at the side? Nope. Almost never here. But this road-- Ah… it was almost TOO good. In fact, it surpassed most American roads because not only was it in beautiful condition, but there was virtually NO traffic on it, either human or machine! It was beautiful. Magical. Unreal. <br /><br />So there we were, on the lovely M5, cruising along, back into the rubber-tree forest. Remember that? We’d gone through at least half of it after passing Nkhata Bay the day before. Of course, there was something there we’d remembered from that day. Something made of rubber. Something we wanted to buy. Large, rubber balls. I know, you thought it was something else. Just shows where your minds are (heh heh). Ya, there are these people, primarily young men and boys, bouncing these really interesting rubber balls along the road in the forest, so Deliwe and I thought we’d stop and buy a couple on our way back through for Pacharo and Noel (Harold’s sons), and Deliwe’s nephews. So, we stopped and bought two of the balls, which looked very interesting… almost as if they were made of several rubber bands.<br /><br />Well, this purchase proved to be a bit of a risk, as well as a waste of money. More on that later.<br /><br />We continued along this heavenly highway for about three more hours (if memory serves) to Nkhotakhota. I’d already done a bit of research on where to stay in our little guidebook, and had Deliwe read a bit of the text back to me as a reminder. We actually had to go about 10 miles past the town to find the turnoff to the resorts by the lake. Which, of course, we did. Mostly without incident. The only problem we had is that the signs to the place I’d intended to check out were not as visible as the signs to the ‘Sany Beach Lodge’ (which I think is intended to read ‘Sunny Beach,’ though I never did verify this rumor with the staff.)<br /><br />Oh, yeah, and another incident, I almost forgot... There was a police barricade (these are typical on Malawian highways) on the way, featuring several signs related to curbing the problem of deforestation, mostly due to the charcoal-making trade, as well as illegal firewood cutting (as wood is a primary fuel source for cooking/heating in the villages). Of course, being such a tree-hugger, I was happy to see such efforts being made to address this issue. <br /><br />Little did I know that I'd done something earlier on that might have contributed to a certain aspect of this problem. Remember the rubber balls we bought back in the rubber tree forest as we left Nkhata Bay? Well, apparently the sale and purchase of said balls is illegal. And, not only that, but there are signs posted everywhere indicating the name of the rubber company that owns the tree plantations, with a small warning (too small for me, obviously) painted in red, discouraging travellers from buying the balls, as they are made from stolen rubber. When questioned by the policeman about this, I was too distraught about my terrible mistake to ask whether trees are cut down in the process of making these balls, but I'm guessing that they are. AAAHH! I felt horrible. I even offered to let him take the balls, but he said it was ok, as it was obviously the first time I'd purchased them. Perhaps the fact that they were sitting in the back seat proved my innocence and ignorance of what I'd done. I certainly did not try to hide my crime.<br /><br />Having said all of that, anyone in Malawi tempted to purchase these, obviously avoid it for the above reason, but also they are not worth buying, as it turns out they are filled with air (I thought it was all made of rubber--duh!), and both balls punctured broke within a few hours, went flat, and unfortunately the fun was over quickly. I guess Deliwe and I learned our lesson, and also had the question answered as to why the vendors would suddenly appear out of a 'hiding place' in the forest before coming out to bounce their tempting rubber balls at the side of the road... we couldn't resist!! (he he...)<br /><br />We went ahead and took a look at Sany Beach, then tried to walk up the beach to see the other places, but decided we were just too tired to keep going, and were also pretty sure those places might be on the pricey side, so we stayed put at Sany/Sunny Beach.<br /><br />It was a fabulous place, actually. They had chalets right on the beach, a beautiful bar with a natural, rocky terrace overlooking the lake, and a fabulous open-air restaurant. All the things one looks for in a beach-side resort, but at only MK2,000 (about 17 bucks) /night… for a chalet! This was heaven. Forget about the M5. This was the place I could wake up to after dying. <br /><br />So, due to exhaustion after the drive and hunger after an early breakfast of bananas and biscuits at our bamboo lodge, we decided to leave the car unpacked, make an order with the kitchen, and then get some drinks at the bar. <br /><br />Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention. Deliwe and I were the ONLY guests at this place. We had it all at our disposal. Well, all that was there… there was no bread in the Kitchen, and no ‘greens’ at the bar. “What’s a green?”, you mzungus back home are asking, right? No, it’s not a little leprechaun or some exotic Malawian cocktail. It’s Carlsberg lager. Ya, not so exciting. Have I forgotten to mention that somehow the Danes have the corner on the beer market here? I have yet to find out the history of that one, but yeah. Most of the time, when you go out for a beer in Malawi, besides the local Malawian ‘Kuche Kuche’ (--ya, cute name, eh? It means something like sunrise, because it’s a bit weak, so you can drink it til sunrise and still work the next day, so the locals claim), you have only 3 other choices (if you can call them that): Carlsberg green, brown (amber), or stout. Ya, it gets old really fast, especially for those of us who are not Carlsberg fanatics (i.e. me). But, I can adapt, especially when it’s beer. I’m from Wisconsin, and I’m half German—‘nuff said.<br /><br />OK, back to the story. This bar had only Carlsberg Stout. While my little sis Heather the stout lover (who also went to a college of the same name, but I digress) would’ve had much rejoicing over this, I, on the other hand, am not a big stout fanatic. Nevertheless, we were on the beach, and it was beer. And it was cold. So, who cares? I also remembered the Malawi Gin, which I hadn’t tasted in awhile, so since I wasn’t planning on driving anywhere for awhile, I indulged in one or two of those, and then had a couple of stouts, which of course I paid for later with a massive headache that had me in bed by 7 p.m. Ya, I’m getting old, methinks…<br /><br />So basically, we hung out on the rocks outside the lovely bar, met up with some local kids who thought Deliwe was a goddess because she wore trousers and seemed so worldly coming from the south with this alien Mzungu lady. She even gave some advice to one of the girls to really study hard in school, especially English, or she’d never be able to work for a Mzungu (heh heh). I suppose that’s good advice, no matter the motivation. <br /><br />I, on the other hand, coaxed a couple of boys into ‘skipping rocks’ with me on the water. This was something we used to do as kids while visiting my German grandmother in southern Wisconsin back in the day. She never had toys or games at her house, so we’d skip rocks in the river across the lakes, for hours, or days, or millennia, as it often seemed. Having a little rock skippin contest with the boys proved a couple of things to me… their skill proved this must be a universal pastime for bored kids (or kids with few resources), and that my skills had certainly diminished over time (or maybe they never were as good as I’d thought). I never got more than 3 skips on one throw, but the boys had 4 or 5 a couple of times. Too bad this isn’t an Olympic sport, eh?<br /><br />In the midst of our fun times with the kids (including some pushing around on the tree swing outside the bar), Deliwe and I started realizing how long it’d been since we’d ordered dinner. It was actually a late lunch when we ordered it at around 2 p.m. It was now nearing 5 p.m. and we still hadn’t been served. AAAH! No wonder I was feeling weak and dizzy. Luckily, just as I’d started to ask Richard, the cook/waiter from Zimbabwe (his father’s from Malawi, so he came here a few months ago in the midst of the Mugabe-spurred economic crisis which began much earlier) about the food, it was just about to be served.<br /><br />This brings me to another side-note (wow, I’ve had lotsa those today). For those of you considering a visit to Malawi, keep in mind that there is virtually no such thing as fast-food here. I think I may have mentioned in an earlier posting that McDonald’s does not exist here (Hallelujah! They haven’t infested EVERY culture in the world—yet…). When you order food at any restaurant—large or small, cheap or expensive—expect to wait a good 20-30 minutes for your food. Even breakfast at hotels can take awhile (usually 10-15 mins.) In a way, this is a refreshing thing, but can be a hassle if you’re on a lunch break with little time to spare. Of course, for tourists, that’s not a concern. <br /><br />Almost always, though, you’ll find the meal is more than worth the wait. This was definitely the case that evening, as we had a fabulous meal of kampango from the braii (grill), rice, and salad. Very well-worth the wait, I must say. And very, very welcome after too much sun n alcohol in the system. <br /><br />After dinner, Deliwe decided to play with the kids a bit more on the swing, while I went back to the room to change into my swimsuit and jump in. Shortly after I went in, Deliwe joined me, and then the kids. One thing about swimming here that seemed much different from the south, however, was the force of the water. The waves here were much larger, faster, and a bit ominous. Since Deliwe is not a strong swimmer, I just warned her to be careful, and taught her a bit about body surfing, etc. She seemed ok, and we had a great time in the water, until it got a bit dark, and one of the girls in the group of kids warned us that the crocodiles come out after dark. Crocodiles? Really? Though I though this seemed like rough waters for crocs, I wasn’t about to chance it, and out I ran, straight to the wooden hammock I’d spotted earlier that day. I relaxed for a bit, while Deliwe played with one of the rubber balls with the kids on the beach. <br /><br />Soon, I started to feel a headache coming on, and then it was time to go in. I took a short shower, scrubbing off the sand and pebbles that collected inside my swimsuit during the body-surfing… I had no idea how much stuff had gotten in there! I imagine the fact that my suit has gotten roomier since I’ve lost some poundage was a contributing factor, so I’m not complaining. Ya, that turned out to be s a much-needed shower.<br /><br />As I mentioned before, the gin/stout-induced headache came on strong, so I took some drugs, and headed for bed at around 7 p.m. Even earlier that Deliwe, which had to be a first. I suppose the fact that the electricity there runs off a generator and the place had limited gas (ya, many things were limited, which is either the result or cause of the lack of guests—maybe both), so we weren’t sure how long we’d have electricity, anyway. <br /><br />Since we were right on the beach, listening to the waves crashing in, it really felt like we weren’t missing anything, anyway, so it was a good night to sleep early, and be up for sunrise. Ya, the proof’s in the pics at left. I, Jen X, was up at SUNRISE in MALAWI (around 4 a.m.) Even I myself couldn’t believe it, and still really don’t. Could be a first and a last. But I did it. Check it off the list. You know, that one of stuff I need to do before leaving this earth. Done.<br /><br />So, as you can see from the pictures posted at left, I took a good deal of sunrise photos before Deliwe even opened her eyes to the new day. Another first for me, as I rarely beat her in the waking up early competition…<br /><br />The rest of the morning was rather typical. Shower, breakfast, a few more photos, and off we went. I wanted to see the famous mission church where the Scottish Anglican Missionary David Livingstone first negotiated with the Jumbe tribal chief on 10 Sept. 1863 (finally found the dates again in my guidebook) under a magnificent fig tree (still standing—see evidence at left) to end the slave trade which shipped people across Lake Malawi from Nkhotakhota. Unfortunately, Livingstone was unsuccessful in this attempt, and Nkhotakhota remained the largest slave market on Lake Malawi (founded in the early 19th century by the half-Arab Jumbe tribe, which ruled Nkhotakhota for several generations). From Nkhotakhota, as many as 20,000 slaves were shipped every year across the lake to Kilwa Kivinje on the coast of Tanzania. There, they were sold in the slave markets on the east coast of Africa (Zanzibar was one of the biggest), at that time ruled by the Omani Arabs --(Again, all according to my ‘Bradt’ Guidebook on Malawi—the only one dedicated to Malawi, as far as I know…). <br /><br />It wasn’t actually until several years later, in 1890, when British Commissioner Harry Johnston persuaded the ageing Jumbe chief to sign a treaty ending the slave trade in exchange for British protection (also according to the book, almost word-for-word). <br /><br />Of course, with such a history, I had to visit the mission and see the big fig tree and all. The mission was actually built in 1894, and is also the burial place of Chauncy Maples, the first bishop of the Anglican mission on Likoma Island, established in 1886. Likoma island is in the middle of Lake Malawi, and a great place to visit, I'm told, but not as easy to get to as I'd hoped. This was (and still is) one of the most famous missions in Malawi. Unfortunately, the demise of Chauncy Maples was quite sad, as he was drowned in a shipwreck on the lake during stormy weather while returning to the island from the 'mainland' coast in Salima in 1895, actually just around the time he was consecrated as bishop on the island.<br /><br />So, all these historical sites are pictured at left, maybe in order, or maybe not, depending whether I can rearrange the photos successfully after finishing this post. Wish me luck!<br /><br />After finishing our little trip back to the town of Nkhotakhota (also featuring a ride for one of the Sani Bay Lodge managers who needed to buy fuel for the truck and generator-- a sidenote worth mentioning..), we headed south to Salima. <br /><br />Now, to bring a timely ending to this story, I'll just give a few tidbits about our trip to Salima, specifically the beachfront of Senga Bay:<br /><br />1) As usual, we did have some trouble finding the hotel where we wanted to stay ('Red Zebra Lodge'), were mis-directed by a few people (including a soldier at one point... ), but still found the place we originally wanted to go, but no rooms were available, so we headed to another place our guidebook recommended, giving a ride to one of the staff at the first place who lived in the area of the 2nd hotel, called 'Caroline's'. Luckily, they had rooms available, but nothing self-contained. I had to compromise my VERY STRONG desire for my own bathroom and HOT SHOWER (had not had one since lilongwe--remember the 'Malawian bath' at Gillo's house and the cold shower at Nkhotakhota?) for a shared bathroom, but which did have an all-day hot shower, a very rare commodity at lake hotels in Malawi.<br /><br />2) Shortly after arriving at the lodge and heading for the beach (a very nice, mostly empty beach, with strong waves/tides much like Nkhotakhota), we discovered the place had been largely taken over by a huge group (about 20 or so) of very young Brits, mostly women, incredibly similar to those we ran into during our last stay at Liwonde National Park (see prior posting from mid-March for the gory details). Could it be the same people? (As you may recall, it was a group of 17 years-or-so-aged British kids on a 3-month stay, placed all over Malawi as experimental primary school teachers with no actual teaching experience...). The group we'd run into at Liwonde had all gotten together from the different regions of Malawi, and this situation appeared quite similar, as it was graced with at least one giddy, screaming girl reunion on the night we arrived. <br /><br />Now, if you are a young, white woman in your 20's, please take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. I'm somewhat convinced that at least part of it is my age talking. Someday you're likely to understand. Wait about 10 years or so, you'll see what I mean. These days, for me, young women (whether British or American), ironically white, blonde women (yes, not unlike myself in appearance--but younger, of course), all look and sound the same to me--same hair, same face, same clothes, same personality, same, same, same-- it's almost like the 'Millenial' generation (as we so lovingly call them) were cloned in a lab somewhere (at least the caucasian females) rather than conceived the traditional way. So, after seeing this group, I never could quite figure out if they were the same as the Liwonde group, but they might as well have been. Just as loud, just as large a group, just as invasive (especially during breakfast) as the other group had been. They literally 'took over' the place. Luckily, we weren't kept up all night this time, as they did seem to end their partying a bit early (at least the ones staying in the room near ours, and sharing the bathroom with us... AARGH! One almost walked in on me, as I imagine knocking was just too much trouble for her.) Sorry if this sounds nasty, mean, and bitter, but I have no tolerance for inconsideration and rudeness, regardless of age, cloning, or any other possible factor. Plus, after having an entire place to ourselves the night before, Deliwe and I were definitely spoiled and intolerant of other travellers, especially loud rude ones.<br /><br />3) In our plight to escape the hourde of young travellers, we attempted to find another place to hang out by hiking up the beach at around 8 p.m., but to no avail. No other resorts seemed to have a bar, or any type of lounge where we could just hang out. Ya, weird. Caroline's was it. So, after our stroll under the beautiful, starry, Malawi sky, we strolled back in, windblown and weary, but with just enough energy to order one more drink and sneak back up to our balcony (ya, the room had a nice back balcony-- a definite asset) and escape the sound of the chatter of young, drunk females. This, for me, was probably the highlight of my stay at Senga Bay, along with watching the sunset on the outside seating area at sunset. To their credit, the group of kids stayed in the bar most of the time in the evening, so we did enjoy a peaceful Malawi sunset on the beach with a couple of greens... AAAAHHH.<br /> <br />So, with that, I'll conclude possibly the longest M 'n M post so far (with the possible exception of the first one chronicling my first couple of weeks here), leaving you with the anticipation of new pictures to come (and maybe even video!) this weekend. As always, Tiwonana mawa!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-11142501088657048892008-04-14T12:28:00.003-04:002008-04-14T12:42:41.470-04:00Excuses, Excuses... (but good ones, of course)Ya, today I've got to give my loyal readers some excuses for not finishing the lake stories, nor posting the elephant pictures, as follows:<br /><br />1) I finally got Penga into the vet (after much ado since returning from up north) to have her spayed (i.e. surgically 'fixed' so she won't have an unwanted/unplanned pregnancy), and had to leave her all groggy, confused, and suffering with stitches at home in order to come to my office and get on the internet. So, I'm a bit worried about her and want to get back and make sure she's o.k. (Deliwe's in class late this evening). The good news is that she WASN'T pregnant after all! Just teasin' that old tomcat, apparently... Good, good Penga! I should've had more faith...<br /><br />2) We finally also had our meeting at Chanco this afternoon to discuss the belated start of the semester--ya, the meeting was this afternoon, and first-year classes begin tomorrow. My department (Language and Communications) teaches only first years (academic English/study skills). As it turns out, I will have to teach the first four weeks of the course due to a current shortage of staff, but I'm assured another person will be hired during that time to take over the courses when I finish teaching in mid-May. In addition, I'll be able to teach the two courses in one section, so time-wise it should be relatively manageable, despite the fact that I'm swamped with marking papers & exams at Domasi College. Ya, they had to end the strike in just enough time to send me back to class when I'm doing millions of other things before leavin the country... Thanks fer nuthin, Chanco Lecturers' Union! (I'll reserve the rest of my true feelings about this matter for more personal chats...)<br /><br />3) The bloody pictures at the lake are still scrambled, and I can't seem to fix this issue, so I'm afraid to post more photos at this point... Not to mention I'm really wiped out due to items (1) and (2), as well as the fact that I spent the morning invigilating a 3-hour exam session (Ya, that's 'proctoring' to the 'Yanks').<br /><br />So, I'm tired, stressed, and just need to chill with my homeys (a.k.a. Penga and Deliwe) tonight. Will try to catch up with the good stuff later on... Tiwonana!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-90246207810600179492008-04-13T17:56:00.002-04:002008-04-13T18:00:55.322-04:00Scrambled Pix of lake...Hello, all you faithful Malawi 'n Me readers! Just a quick note to let you know I've been struggling with the 'layout' function of this blog for about an hour now, and have decided to give up and try again tomorrow. <br /><br />The result of this evening's efforts is to your left: A scrambled, jumbled mess of pix of the last 3 legs of our journey last week (the lakeside visits while travelling back south). Please forgive the lack of order to this mess, as it appears I cannot change the order for now. Perhaps you could try to guess the correct order of these pictures, just for fun, until I can fix it.<br /><br />Of course, when I can do that, I'll also finish telling the exhilarating tale of our last two stops along the lake--Nkhotakhota and Salima (some of which is described with the pix at left...).<br /><br />And, of course, I'll begin posting the much-anticipated photos (and hopefully video) of our elephant adventures at Vwaza Marsh... Stay Tuned! Tiwonana Mawa (in better order and cohesion, hopefully...)!!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-20345200012068025312008-04-11T15:49:00.006-04:002008-04-14T12:24:31.975-04:00Savin' the Lake for Last--Part One of TwoHello, again! Due to the rave reviews I've gotten on the last part of my 'trip up north last week' story (2 comments and counting ;-), I guess it's time to tell that last part of the tale-- the lake. By the way, before I start, please make note that I've made a couple of corrections on my picture captions for the "Emperor's View" and the "Queen's View" on the pix of the Zomba Plateau at left. A good Malawian friend of mine set me straight, as I was WAY OFF on my historical facts--er, guesses, on both views. Sorry about that! In any case, check it out for more details...<br /><br />I also have news about the Chancellor College lecturers' strike. It ended this past week, but now there is not much rejoicing over the proposed academic calendar. More on that in a later post, but let's just say it doesn't look like I'll be teaching much, if at all, at Chanco in 2008, as I'm scheduled to leave Malawi on June 1st of this year. More on that later, too...<br /><br />So, it's time for the last part of the story, now that you know we survived the 'elephant incident...' The thrill-seekers among you may find this part of the tale a bit less interesting, but I'll do my best to 'spice it up,' while keeping the details mostly accurate ;-)<br /><br />So, after surviving the near-fatal elephant experience, we headed back to Mzuzu, a bit shaken up, but generally o.k. After a quick trip to bring some of Mac's farm workers from his home back to his quite impressive crop fields where they (the field hands) live, we came back to the house to review the pictures I took of our elephant adventures. Of course, there were many more shots of the happy, playful elephants in the water than of the big bull elephant shortly after our 'Jurrassic Park-esque' ordeal. As you know from my last post, those pix should be up shortly... patience, my friends, I'll get them up, I promise!<br /><br />The next morning, Gillo took us to visit the secondary school where she works. Even though classes were off for the mid-term break, the Form 4 students were there to study for their secondary-school final exams, so we coaxed them into letting me take a couple of pictures of them in the classroom during a break between study sessions. Several teachers were also there to give class sessions focused on preparing students for their final secondary school certification (MSCE) exams. Of course, those pictures will also be posted to the left this weekend, along with the fabulous elephant adventure pix.<br /><br />After visiting the school, we went to the fabulous Mzuzu market, featuring several nice goods from Tanzania, especially clothing that can't be found in other parts of the country. Of course, this was a highlight for Deliwe, who (like many women around the world in her age group), loves to shop, especially for clothing. We also managed to find some nice shoes for her younger brother Movuto to wear to school, as well as a good suitcase for Harold, our gardener. Deliwe got a new jacket for the 'cold' months of June and July, and I got a new blouse and a skirt, though due to a lack of 'fitting rooms,' I realized upon my return that the skirt was WAY too small, so it now belongs to Deliwe's already expansive wardrobe. So, after about 2 hours of shopping (a good hour too long for me), we headed back to the house to prepare for our trip to our first stop along the lake, Nkhata Bay.<br /><br />So, after saying our quick goodbyes, we headed down to Nkhata Bay, only about 50 kms. southeast of Mzuzu. Of course, we expected a nice, short trip, but then again, this is Malawi. and Me. Remember? This means that we ended up taking a few detours before making it to our final destination. First of all, when we took the famous M5 highway into Nkhata Bay, we hit a dead-end and had to turn around. Of course, I took the dead end to mean we'd taken the wrong part of the highway (my lousy travel guide map was no help at all, as usual), so we went back to the main highway (about 15 mins back down the 'bay road spur' as I lovingly refer to it). Once we got to the main M5 highway again, we headed further south. Of course, those who know me will not be surprised that I continued driving for a good 20 mins. or so before I realized I'd gone WAY too far, and had to turn back. I was blessed not only with a lousy sense of direction, but also a lousy sense of distance... the two combine to make me a perpetually lost traveller, unless I have an incredible map, preferably with a guide and compass to go with it... This, of course, has never been the case here in Malawi, so we were in for another 'lost Jen in the wilderness' type of adventure.<br /><br />After Deliwe asked a nice guy walking along the road in the rubber tree forest (more on that later) which way we should go, we turned around, and then asked a couple other guys for confirmation of the direction/distance about 5 mins. later. Those guys actually needed a ride to the bay (we were actually staying in Ilala Bay), so we let them get in the back while they gave us directions.(Ya, a la "Amazing Race"-- I'm embarrassed to say I sometimes watch that T.V. show back home, but usually don't make it through the hour due to the irritating nature of the people it features)... but I digress...<br /><br />So, as you may have guessed, these guys directed us right back to the original 'Nkhata Bay road spur' that we were on earlier. Ya, a typical mistake of mine... I never stay on the original path, and trust my instincts. I was pretty sure it was right, but couldn't figure out exactly how... Ya, should've asked for directions back then--duh! <br /><br />In any case, we headed back in the same direction we'd gone before, and then when the guys told us where to turn right, of course we saw all the signs for several lodges and resthouses, including the one we'd booked, the 'Butterfly Inn.' At that point, we knew we were going in the right direction. So, we headed down the somewhat sketchy, bumpy, muddy road (conditions which no longer make me flinch after all the driving I've done here). As we continued up the road, it started to get muddier, and a bit bumpier, but I felt we could get through it without too much trouble, so we continued. Eventually, we started going up a hill on the edge of the bay, and the road became rocky. No big deal. The roads all over the Zomba area are extremely rocky too, so I just kept going. Then, it got rockier, and bumpier, and I started to get a bit more hesitant. Eventually, we came to a part where there seemed to be a huge boulder sticking up from the road, I shifted into first gear, and tried to gun my little Toyota over it. That's when I heard it. The sound. You know the one. That loud, screeching, scraping sound that makes you think you've completely destroyed the bottom of your car. Ya. That one. AAAH! <br /><br />I immediately stopped the car and called the "Butterfly Inn"-- or was it the 'Butterfly lodge'? One of the signs said 'Butterfly Place'. In any case, I was wishin I were a butterfly at that point cuz flyin was the only way I was gonna make it there. Of course, I had a funny conversation with the woman on the other line, which I'll chronicle here:<br /><br />"Hello, Butterfly Lodge (or Inn, Or Place, or Somethin...)"<br /><br />"Hi, this is Jennifer, the woman who called you earlier this morning."<br /><br />"Oh, Hello. How are you?"<br /><br />"Well, not so good. I'm standing in the middle of the road up to your lodge (or inn, or place, or somethin...)"<br /><br />"Oh, what happened?"<br /><br />"Well, I tried to drive up this road, but it's pretty bad, and I'm driving a small Toyota Carina. Do your other guests drive on this thing?"<br /><br />"Yes."<br /><br />"Really? Do they have 4-wheel drives?"<br /><br />"Well, some do, but some just come in regular cars." <br /><br />(The Malawians will like this next one...)<br /><br />"Are they Malawians, or Mzungus?"<br /><br />(Calmly) "Well, both, actually."<br /><br />"Wow, I can't imagine how I could get my car up this thing. I think I'd better turn around and park in town. Are you far from there?"<br /><br />"No, it's just about 10 minutes walk from town. Not far at all." (HA! As you'll see later)<br /><br />"OK, we'll have to find a place to park in town, and we'll just hike up."<br /><br />"OK, see you soon!"<br /><br />"OK, bye!"<br /><br />So of course, we turned around (which also was a bit harrowing), with the 2 guys still in the back, and made our way down the hill again.<br /><br />Once we got back into town, we found the police station, and decided that would be the best place to park the car. So, that's what we did. Of course, we did have to ask permission, and sign a book, and even had one of the officers ask for a ride to Salima the next day (though he changed his mind later), but in the end they let us park it there. Which was good, as we needed a secure area for it.<br /><br />On a sidenote, both Deliwe and I needed to use the toilet at that point, and let me just say one thing. For people back home, have you ever seen that scene in the movie <em>Trainspotting</em> where the guy needs to use the bathroom urgently, and it's in the back of this pub, with a sign that reads something like, "The most horrible, disgusting toilet in Scotland,"? Well, that's nothin compared to the toilet at the police station at Nkhata Bay. I can say without a doubt (after using several very horrible toilets all over the world) that the toilet we used at Nkhata Bay is the MOST DISGUSTING TOILET IN THE WORLD! I challenge anyone to find a worse one, anywhere. I could've taken a picture, but I was too traumatized (perhaps even more than I was during the near-trampling by the elephant a day earlier).<br /><br />So, eventually we took care of our business, headed up the hill (about 30 mins., NOT 10 mins.), and found the lodge/inn/place. Of course I was exhausted from the stress of getting lost, finding a place to park, dealing with the disgusting toilet, and hiking up the hill. Once we got up to our little 'stick house' (see pix at left), I told Deliwe I'd PAY her MK500 (about 3 dollars) if she'd go down to the bar (a bit of a hike down the hill) and bring a few beers up. Which she did gladly, without need for payment. Aaaahhh, that was more like it.... We had a great view of the bay from our balcony, and a couple of cold beers, some snacks, and a chat. It was almost worth all that other stuff (gettin lost, using awful toilet, hiking, ya, you know the drill...)<br /><br />The rest of the stay was relatively uneventful... typical backpacker lodge/inn/place, met some nice people, but most of the people didn't really talk to us much. There was one nice British woman who was living and teaching in Zambia, trying to get a work-visa, so had to stay in Malawi for a bit while that was being processed. Other than that, not much else to tell about Nkhata Bay, except that there's virtually NO BEACH since the water has risen so much in the past few years, I guess due to increased rainfall in the area. Well, one more thing (I just remembered). After my evening shower (around 9:30 p.m.), I saw the most amazing sight... lights from fishing boats filling the bay. This is something I've seen on other parts of Lake Malawi, but not as impressive as it was in the bay. <br /><br />So, the morals of our Nkhata Bay adventure are... Don't try to drive up the crazy boulder-ridden roads, avoid the police station bathroom, but head for a lodge/inn/place by the bay, have a beer or two, and enjoy the sight of the stars and shipping boat lights at night. Spectacular!<br /><br />We headed out of Nkhata Bay the next morning, this time back down the coast of the lake to Nkhotakhota (Ya, say that 10 times fast--just like it looks n-KO-ta-KO-ta). This is a good story, and shorter, but I'll have to save it for next time, as it's 12:30 a.m. now, and I've gotta get up early for another trip to the lake tomorrow with my aerobics group (just for the day)... Details later on that!<br /><br />Tiwonana Mawa or Sunday! ;-)Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-48764081500208562362008-04-09T14:48:00.004-04:002008-04-09T15:39:19.235-04:00Elephant (and other) Adventures Up North-- Part TwoOK, I'm back!! So, ya wanna know what happened next, eh? Ask and you shall receive. So, after watching the herd of elephants move up-river, we headed back to the 'camp' area where our guide had determined the elephants had crossed. This area is apparently a favorite of the herd, and in the evenings they usually cross it while heading to another area where they like to spend the night. <br /><br />With this tidbit of info., Mac was determined to get one last close-up look at the herd before heading home, and I, for one, was seconding that emotion. So, we headed back into the park, looking for our familiar herd of elephants. Sure enough, as we approached the camp area, there was the large bull elephant we'd seen following the herd, as his job (according to our guide) is to protect the family group of females and young. Now, we did spot the great beast in the camp, facing our way, munching on a tree. My instinct was to stay in the truck, and have a nice look at him from a distance. However, our guide, who had seemed quite knowledgeable about elephants up until this point, assured us that it would be safe enough to leave the truck and get a closer look. Despite my protests, all of us followed his lead like sheep. If you sense a foreshadowing, you're in for quite a story...<br /><br />So, out we go, with Mac apparently making sure the doors were unlocked so we could get in quickly if things went awry. Now, those of you who have seen the movie 'Jurassic Park' may see a parallel in what happened next. Remember how we were so thrilled when we first saw the herd of elephants, happily playing in the water? How amazing, beautiful, and sublime it all was. At this point, if there were a soundtrack to our trip, it would be playing that eerie music that builds up to a certain tension, as we move closer to the elephant. At first, all looked o.k. He was at a relatively safe distance, eating tree branches, barely taking any notice of the little, diminuative humans in his midst. Stewart (our guide) even convinced us to pose for a picture with the big bull elephant in the background to share with our friends. Once I get it posted, you'll see the pic to the left, and what you'll notice is that not only do we all have somewhat bewildered looks on our faces, but the elephant is no longer there. Mac thinks he's pointing to it, but, alas, the big guy had moved just after we'd turned our backs to him. Oh, yeah. We were idiots all right. Keep in mind now that the guide is taking our picture, so can see that the elephant is moving, but seems unphased, so we're thinking, "OK, we must be safe... right?" Wrong.<br /><br />So, we turn around, realizing his movement, and starting to feel a bit unsure about this whole thing. Luckily, Gillo had made note of the bathrooms earlier, so I'd planned my escape to that building, just in case. Good thing I did, because we were so focused on the big bull, that we didn't realize there was another large elephant much closer to us, rustling among the trees about 30 yards away. AAAAHHH! As soon as we realized, it, our guide started trying to scare it off by clapping, and then it moved closer, so we started running for the bathroom. I think I was the most panicked of us all. <br /><br />Now, I love animals, especially elephants, which have always been my favorite. But, one cannot love anything or anyone without a certain level of respect. Especially something this big. Now, what happened next will shock you. Stewart, the illustrious guide, to whom Mac and I had just paid some money for his services prior to this incident (in our delight over seeing the elephants swimming), decided to ward both elephants off by clapping his hands (an action which he believed scared them off because it sounds like gunshots) and eventually throwing things at them. Ya. This guy was an idiot. I'm sorry to say that about someone on this public forum, but I wanted to strangle him. <br /><br />He told us to stay in the bathroom, and that he'd get the elephants out of the area. Then, he proceeded to clap and throw things at them, while they proceeded to become more agitated, trumpet loudly, and move closer in our direction. All we could do was huddle inside the ladies' room, hoping the structure was too strong for two huge elephants to ram through. Oh, ya... Jurassic Park all the way. Remember the lawyer hiding in the toilet? Ya, that was us... but it was real... too too real for my blood.<br /><br />At one point Stewart coaxed us into coming out of the bathroom, only to lob something at the elephant, causing it to trumpet and begin another charge... Good thing we weren't too far from the toilets. At that point, I'd had it... I summoned up just enough courage to poke my head out of the toilet door to literally yell at Stewart, pleading with him to stop throwing things at the bull elephant (I'm not sure where the other one had gone at that point). "You're provoking him!" I said. "Really?" he replied. Elephant expert my A--! This guy was a clown! A rodeo clown that teases Bulls... no... A Safari Clown! Do they have those? He deserved to be trampled to death, but I wasn't goin down with him! I would stay in that toilet until the end of time if that's what it took. <br /><br />Luckily, Stewart came to his senses and stopped throwing things and clapping loudly, and eventually the elephants retreated back towards the lake, and we made a run for the truck. Ya, it was one of those things like in those dreams I often have, where I'm running, but I can't really move, or open my eyes, or there's something making me go in slow motion... Not sure if other people have those dreams, but I do, and this was like that. My heart was pounding, and it felt like the truck was 20 miles away, and the elephants were right behind us. AAAHHH! Then, of course, we make it to the truck, and my bloody door was LOCKED!! AAAAAHHHH! I of course screamed at Mac to get in and unlock the door, as I was freakin out... Of course, I looked like the biggest idiot of all, as Malawians have this amazing capacity of remaining calm in any circumstance (at least based on what I saw in my companions that day). I was doin the crazy panicked mzungu dance pretty much from the time of the ridiculous snapshot until we got into the truck. Everyone else seemed o.k. Deliwe told me she was really scared, but her face (and voice) never showed it. Truly remarkable.<br /><br />So, in we went, the car started-- whew! And off we went. Of course, a couple of hours later, we all had a good laugh about it, but I must say that's the scariest experience I've ever had in my life. As we say back home, don't f--k with mother nature. Respect the wild, and all the things in it. I'll never forget this day, as long as I live. <br /><br />We all went home a little wiser that night, and feeling just a bit smaller and less powerful than we once thought we were. The elephants rule in this land. Respect and protect. That's the moral of my story. All true. The pix tell much of it, so watch for those. Mac later joked that I should've taken a video during our ordeal for the blog. Not possible. Or maybe if it was like those 'Blair Witch' people a few years back, but that was just too annoying for words. I could never do that, anyway, but certainly I was in no state of mind to fumble with a camera when I was trying to save my a-- from huge angry elephants. Which means the faithful blog readers will have to settle for a video of swimming, playing, happy elephants, when and if I ever figure out how to compress and post a bloody video. Stay tuned.<br /><br />By the way, I just remembered that I can cross another thing off the 'Things I wanna do before I die' list. No, running from angry elephants was not on the list, but seeing a large herd of elephants near and inside a body of water in the wild is actually on the list. Good thing I got to do that shortly before I almost got trampled by one or two of them, eh?<br /><br />So that's my story and I'm stickin to it. Tomorrow watch for what happens next--this time at the lake, much more serene, and much less eventful--Whew! Tiwonana Mawa!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-71470045545723632862008-04-08T11:08:00.005-04:002008-04-09T14:35:26.624-04:00Elephant (and other) Adventures Up North: Part OneSo, as promised, it's time now to chronicle the adventures of my trip up north last week. Since my last post was all pictures and few words, this one will make up for that by featuring several (ok probably TONS) of words and no pictures. Because uploading pictures can be quite time-consuming, especially since I took many, many pictures during that trip, I'll save that for later, and likely will upload them bit-by-bit, so keep on checkin for those!<br /><br />Our trip began on Saturday, Mar. 29 with a short stop at the Village to Village orphanage to check on the project. While there, we met up with our two artists/painters in charge, Essau and Alfred, who were laying the foundations of the scenes and characters for the dividing wall and inside walls of the reading room so that the kids could help out. Once we (Deliwe and I) arrived, we enlisted the help of Village to Village director Alfred to round up a few kids to help out with the painting. Of course, not only was this great fun for the kids, it also provided a few perfect photo opps. as you can see to the left of this post. Since we had such a great time watching the kids, a good hour had gone by before we left them to finish the project. After coming back from my trip on Friday, April 4, I did check on the project again, and oversaw Essau taking care of some final touches. So, now the painting phase is finished, and we can concentrate on stocking the area with furniture, and of course, BOOKS! YAHOOOOOOOOO!!! <br /><br />As I've mentioned, some requests I've made by e-mail have turned out very fruitful results, especially due to a book drive held at the Pine Ridge Middle School in Naples, Florida. I'm especially looking forward to receiving the 12 large packages of books their geography instructor Kim Gonder managed to send off last week. As I said, you guys ROCK! Thanks so much!! And, of course, thanks also to my various friends who have sent books... even small contributions are a big help to us, and the kids are SO excited. I took more pictures of them on Friday as proof of their elation, so watch for those as well this week.<br /><br />So, after our visit to the orphanage, off we went to Lilongwe for just an overnight stay at my favorite hotel, the Kiboko Town Hotel, where I've stayed four times so far while in transit in Lilongwe (the first of which being my visit for purchasing my car). The night in Lilongwe was rather uneventful, except for a visit to a nice Indian restaurant there, where we both enjoyed a nice lamb kharma dish and some traditional Indian-style bread (both were firsts for Deliwe, so she was very thrilled.) After that, just back to the hotel for a beer on the balcony and a chat while watching the not-so-busy street (ya, even in the cities, things pretty much die down after 8 p.m.), followed by a liesurely evening watching T.V. in the room. This was the only hotel room on our journey featuring a T.V., and since we don't have one at home, this was rather exciting for us. Despite that, the viewing choices were a bit limited -- BBC World News was the highlight for me (Zimbabwe Election Mess!), and the "Super Story" soap opera from South Africa was Deliwe's favorite (though I don't really 'get it' myself-- definitely a cultural difference.)<br /><br />In the morning, we enjoyed a lovely free breakfast-- this is worth mentioning because each time I've stayed at this hotel, I've somehow missed the breakfast. I don't think it's because I've been particularly lazy, only because I've had to run off to somewhere early in the morning, and didn't realize breakfast was included (as it often is at hotels here). AARGH! I finally got to see what I'd been missing! They even had fresh coffee served in one of those French Press things (ya, I'm so cultured, eh?). Wish I could make up for all that missed food somehow, but alas, now I'll know next time. <br /><br />On Sunday morning, we headed north to Mzuzu, which is a good 4-5 hour drive north of Lilongwe (which, by the way, is about 4 hours north of Domasi--though I made it in a little over 3 hours this time... leadfoot, perhaps?). So, we knew we had to get going pretty early in the morning. We managed to start our drive out of town by about 9 a.m., which was pretty good after a liesurely breakfast-- those who know me well may be very shocked, as back home I'm scarcely awake by 9 a.m. on weekends or holidays... Malawi has certainly changed me in this aspect. Before leaving Domasi, I'd been in touch with a couple of my Distance Learner students whom I taught at Domasi College of Ed. (DCE) in November. Both had told me they lived in the Mzuzu region, and I had agreed to visit them if I ever made it up north. One of these two students, Gillo Moyo (whose class will also be participating in a pen-pal program with some students at Pine Ridge Middle School) kindly invited Deliwe and me to stay with her family. After asking her a couple of times whether it was really o.k., I decided to take her up on her offer, and was very pleased that I did. More on that later.<br /><br />The other student's name is Ken. I'll keep his surname out, as the situation with him turned out to be one of those 'culture-clash' issues. Without elaborating too much, it turned out that this student lived a good 200 kilometers south of Mzuzu, but had led me to believe that he lived just outside of town. Of course, I was visiting him at his house before I realized this, and once he was in my car, he confessed to me that he expected me to bring him all the way back home from Mzuzu, and didn't have transport money to come back on his own. Since we were planning on returning home via the M5 highway along the lake, rather than the M1 which goes through his town, I knew I wouldn't be able to bring him back home. <br /><br />In the end, I reluctantly agreed to pay his transport, but the miscommunication issue was a bit bothersome. On several occasions that I'd spoken with him, he described his home as being 'near Mzuzu,' but it's about as near to Mzuzu as Domasi is near to Lilongwe. I'm not sure whether this was a language barrier or a communication barrier, but based on his command of English, I'd say it was the latter. Sometimes these things happen here, and I'm learning not to overreact, but let's just say I was a little more than annoyed with him that day, and of course reminded him that he is my student, and I have yet to assess his grades. Of course, I was joking, but it did get him thinking a bit...<br /><br />So, after about a 1-hour delay at Ken's house-- also a miscommunication, as he wasn't quite ready to go--we headed on to Mzuzu, and about 2 hours later met up with Gillo and her husband Mac. They were so happy to see us, and very grateful that we'd agreed to stay with them. In the end, I stayed with them the first night, while Deliwe stayed with Jen, the sister of one of our neighbors at Domasi who's a good friend of hers. Jen's living and working in Mzuzu, and her younger sister Theresa also stays with her, so they had a nice time catching up that night.<br /><br />After dropping Deliwe at her friend's house, Ken and I went with Gillo to her house, where a huge spread of food was waiting for us. I was soon to find out that this was the norm at her house. Almost every meal had about 5 dishes or more, all very delicious and abundant. I joked that if I stayed too long, I'd gain a good 20 pounds. Most of the time we had meat, one or two vegetables, rice, nsima, and sometimes potatoes, all in one meal. Wow. This was very dangerous for me, now that I'm trying to keep the extra weight I've lost since coming here from coming back! It was very tough, but I think I've succeeded. Sometimes it's a blessing not to have a scale around...<br /><br />After our meal, we took Ken to the bus stop, and then went to the vegetable market, and walked around a bit, talking about life, Malawi, and the pen pal program. Gillo is very excited about it, and is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the letters from Florida, which Kim tells me were sent late last week. Good stuff.<br /><br />After we got back to the house, we spent some time researching what to do the next day, which was a bit of a challenge, because we were in the middle of an electricity blackout which had lasted all day. We eventually decided to go to Vwaza Marsh, which is a small wildlife park about 2 hours' drive from Mzuzu, and much closer than the big Nyika National Park, the largest National Park in Malawi. Of course, I'd originally planned to visit Nyika, but upon further research found that it would require much more time than I had, as well as more funds, since the roads there require a 4-wheel-drive vehicle this time of year due to rain damage. In the end, Gillo's husband Mac convinced us to rent a truck and go to Vwaza for the day, then stay with them one more night in Mzuzu. This turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made. More on that later, too...<br /><br />So, once those plans were figured out, by that time the lights had come on again, we had another huge, amazing meal, and then it was bible-reading time. I was a bit wary of this, as I'd just revealed to Gillo and her kids (Mac was out at a meeting) that I don't follow any organized religion. I think they were worried for my soul, even though I explained that I'd been baptised and raised in the Christian faith (assuming that such activities save one's soul). In any case, the reading was interesting, as the family got together to read a passage and give their own interpretation of it, rather than just reading it and dictating an interpretation. The kids were also encouraged to discuss, though they did stay rather quiet. I'm not sure if my presence caused that or not. But, in any case, I thought anyone of any faith should be encouraged to do this sort of thing, as it encourages people to find their own meaning in the teachings of the 'holy books', rather than being told how to interpret what is said or what rules they must live by. Now I suppose I've revealed one reason I no longer follow a prescribed faith. In any case, I found their approach interesting and refreshing.<br /><br />Soon after that it was bedtime, and on to the adventures of the following morning (Monday). We'd arranged for the truck the night before, so we were all set to go. However, before setting off, I needed to take a bath. Now, this is where it gets really interesting. I took my first true Malawian bath that morning. The Malawians know what I'm talking about, but I must describe it for the rest of you. Gillo led me to the bathroom, and inside there were two large plastic buckets, like laundry buckets. I just looked at them, and my puzzled expression was a bit obvious. "How do I do this?" I asked as politely as I could, to which Gillo responded, "You've never taken a bath like this?" "No," I replied. "Oh, ok. Well, this bucket has cold water, and that bucket has hot water, and you use the ladle (big plastic one) to splash the water on your body." "O.K. Can I wash my hair?" I asked, still bewildered. "Of course! Just rinse off with the water!" "OK, Thanks," I said. And then she shut the door. It was shortly after that when I realized I also only had a small towel with which to dry off. Luckily, I'd worn my clothes inside, so I wouldn't have to streak naked through the hallway afterwards.<br /><br />As for what happened next, I'll leave some of it up to the readers' imaginations. I fumbled with the ladle, trying to get the right mix of hot and cold, crouching down, then standing up, not sure which one was better, hoping no one could somehow see me through the door, because I knew I must've looked really strange through it all. In any case, I did this twice... Monday and Tuesday morning, and it was quite the experience. Though Gillo and Mac do have a shower, they're renovating their house, so it wasn't quite all set up yet. Hence, my makeshift Malawian bath. This, by the way, is how they bathe in the village. I was glad to learn this, as I'd often wondered how people bathed without running water, and especially when not living near a river or lake. I'd noticed since coming to Malawi that people are usually very clean, regardless of their standard of living. Now I know, first hand, how it's done. But, they don't use the ladle... just water and hands. I guess I was spoiled.<br /><br />So, after my interesting bath experience, it was time to head out. I was especially excited about this trip because Mac was driving. AAAH... a whole day without having to drive... this was like Heaven to me. We stopped to pick up Deliwe, and off we went. Now, this story has a major highlight, so I'll just cut to the chase. We drove to the park, and spent a bit of time there, found a guide, and not many animals. However, we did see a decent herd of elephants from across the lake in the middle of the marsh, so we knew there was potential there. Vwaza Marsh has quite a few elephants, so we'd heard. Mac and I were very intent on seeing some up close, especially since he'd never gotten a close look at an elephant before. Soon, he'd be in for more than he'd bargained for.<br /><br />After our initial sighting across the lake, we decided to head to the 'camp' area of the park, where our guide (Stewart) said the elephants often could be seen more closely. Sure enough, we could see a couple of large bulls in the distance. The guide then told us we should actually exit the park and head for the bridge across the river, as the spot where we saw the elephants is a popular crossing point for the herds. So, we did just that. And that was it. We saw the most amazing thing ever. The two original elephants became three, and four, and five, and more and more and more. Eventually, a good herd of about 40 elephants emerged from the marsh, and one by one got into the river. While a couple of them simply crossed the river, several others stayed in the water and swam, played, ate, and did everything an elephant could possibly do (well, almost everything...). Eventually about 20 elephants were in the water at once. Right under us... We could see them so well, and safely, because the slope of the land around the bridge was too steep for them to climb. Wow. Of course, I took a ton of pics, many of which I'll upload later on... of course, those will be worth more than any of the words I could use to describe it. Simply amazing. <br /><br />Mac and I stood there gaping for at least 2 hours, while Deliwe and Gillo actually had gotten tired and sat along the side of the road. We'd have stayed longer, but most of the elephants were females and their young (since this is how they're organized... Females travel together with their young, and older males travel separately-- sometimes alone, sometimes with other males), they'd eventually picked up the human scent from the bridge, and decided it wasn't a safe place to cross, so turned around and crossed the river further upstream (or was it downstream? I'm not quite sure).<br /><br />It was after this movement of the herd that things got very, very interesting, exciting, but also a <em>tad</em> bit dangerous (I use 'tad' to mean 'huge'). Now, I think I'll save the rest of the story for tomorrow's post, as it is now past 10 p.m., and definitely very close to my bedtime... well, actually past it. So, what do you think will happen next? Tiwonana Mawa and I'll tell you! Stay tuned!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-17299885967335927022008-04-06T17:17:00.003-04:002008-04-06T17:37:11.049-04:00Pictures only today...Hello, all the loyal, faithful, fabulous Malawi 'n Me blog readers! I'm sure you're wondering why it's been so long since my last post. Well, this time I have more than just the intermittent internet and electricity to blame. Since our classes ended last week Friday 28 March, I decided to take a trip to the north part of Malawi last week Saturday, 29 March, and just returned this past Friday, 4 April. Of course, on the Friday prior to my departure, there was no internet service, and no internet access during my trip as well. When I returned on Friday, I vowed to update the blog that evening, but after checking my hundreds (no joke) of new e-mails from the week prior, and then losing my internet connection, I decided it wasn't meant to be until the next day. Of course, the next day (Sat. 5 April), I woke up to no electricity, a condition which continued throughout the day and into the evening. Alas, Sunday was the day. Luckily, I had very good internet service today, but of course was interrupted by an electrical blackout in the midst of my blogging. Thus, I was only able to update the pictures taken of events prior to my trip up north-- some good stuff-- check it out at left! <br /><br />In sum, it appears the faithful will have to wait patiently just one more day for the usual fabulous, detailed, long-winded (but of course incredibly interesting) narration of my adventures up north. Hopefully, internet and electricity-willing, I'll also get the pictures up as well. I'll do my best.<br /><br />For now, I must go, as it is WAY past bed-time for me... 11:30 p.m.!! I can't remember the last time I was conscious at such an hour, and NOT in my house!! Ah, the horror! Tomorrow morning, we're takin Penga to the vet. It seems she found a boyfriend while we were away... and he's an older man. Ya, they had a nice (howling) chat through the windows my first night back-- great fun! Hopefully it's not too late to prevent an unplanned pregnancy. Wish me luck on that. Tiwonana Mawa!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-70118968602540764282008-03-26T15:06:00.002-04:002008-03-26T15:11:54.470-04:00Mar. 19 post (below) is really Mar. 26 post!!Hey, something weird just happened. I just put up a new post, but the site entered the date I originally started writing it, which was last week (Mar. 19)-- I guess this provides proof for all of my loyal readers that I really tried to post that day, but the connection was lost (I think it was a power-outage that time). In any case, just for clarity, I actually completed the post today, Mar. 26. Some of the items mentioned in the text happened since last week, so I now feel the need to clarify this. Still, no video though... AAARGH!! I'll be sure to alert everyone when I can get it to work... I'm sure it's simple. If you know how to compress a video, please feel free to let me know how in the 'comments' below, and you can even tell me how simple it is and how ridiculous I am for not knowing how to do it. Bring it on, I can take it! ;-)Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-53339231320509691932008-03-19T10:58:00.009-04:002008-03-26T15:52:59.092-04:00The Roller Coaster of Life in Malawi continues...<strong>***NOTE: I'm having trouble compressing the video promised in the early part of this posting, but I'm determined to figure this bit of (likely simple) technology out so that I can either upload the thing here or onto a website so that I can provide a link. In any case, it will be up, I promise, before I leave this country, so please keep checkin!!</strong><br /><br />First of all, I want to apologize profusely to the remaining 2 or so faithful readers for my two-plus week break without posting. As usual, the primary reason is lack of reliable internet here. Ironically, each time I'm about to start writing a new post, I either lose the connection or there is a power outage. Welcome to my life in Malawi! Always a new surprise around the corner.<br /><br />Luckily, when the internet connection is working here at Domasi, however, it is quite good. I'm counting on that fact right now, as I finally upload my FIRST video onto this site! Finally, below is the video taken back in January that I wanted to share with all of you. I'm not going to tell you exactly what's going on here, as I want you to figure it out for yourself. Then, I want you to ask yourselves (especially those of you from outside of Malawi): What's WRONG with this picture? And then ask, what's RIGHT with this picture? And then, just send me some comments. I'm curious if your initial reaction to the sight depicted in this video is at all similar to mine when I stumbled upon it one afternoon. Once I get a few comments, I'll explain what's happening here a bit further (especially to the non-Malawians out there...). <br /><br />(VIDEO HERE--when I can figure out how to bloody compress it, that is...)<br /><br />On a sidenote, I'm very embarrassed to admit that uploading a video onto the blog is REALLY REALLY easy. I just had to click on a 'movie' icon for the new post... my excuse for not realizing this earlier is that I upload pictures outside of my posts using the 'layout' function, rather than uploading them directly into my posts. That's why all the photos appear at the left side. It's also what makes my blog particularly unique, interesting and fabulous, don't you think? ;-)<br /><br />OK, post your comments NOW! I really wanna see your reactions to this! BTW, more video to come soon (providing this one works), so STAY TUNED!! <br /><br />So, now that I've finished my fabulous video opening, It's time now to elaborate on the title of this post.<br /><br />You may recall a posting some time ago which focused on highlights and lowlights of my life here. This one will be somewhat similar, as I will recall the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ (actually, ‘downs’ and ‘ups’) of the roller-coaster ride I call my life in Malawi. Luckily this time, much like a real roller-coaster ride, for each ‘down,’ there is an immediate ‘up’, hopefully not followed by motion sickness... we shall see…<br /><br />OK, so here we go. My last posting was March 6, so I’ll try to recall the major events since then...<br /><br />ROLLIN DOWN I: Chancellor College continues on a stalemate. The last news I heard (about 2 weeks ago) was that the University Council (i.e. ‘government’) were taking 5 of the ‘ringleader’ lecturers to court for violating an injunction ordered against the lecturers’ strike back in Nov. ’07. This was the very court action which forced them to return to work in late Nov. Apparently, by holding the grades, they are currently violating that injunction order; thus, breaking the law. Jail time could result. However, I’ve not been able to find more news on this since two weeks ago. Students have also held a few protests of their own in the major cities here, including a ‘sit in’ outside the council offices, which seems to have had little effect so far.<br /><br />CREEPIN BACK UP I: On the upside, the impasse at Chanco has allowed me to focus my energies on my teaching at Domasi College, as well as the Village to Village Reading room project (more on that later). I’ve come to realize that had I been teaching at both places this term, I would likely have been quite overwhelmed, considering the fact that I’ve got 95 students in my class at Domasi. This is a record number for me in my teaching career thus far. Let’s just say the marking (grading) alone keeps me off the streets most of the time.<br /><br />ROLLIN DOWN II: ESCOM!! The dreaded electric company saga continues. This time, I had to bring two gentlemen from Domasi College into the office to help me argue. Let’s just say my ‘Ugly Mzungu American’ line of questioning/ argument was getting me nowhere with these people. Though the 3 of us attempted to meet the ‘guy in charge’ on Friday, Mar. 14, of course we hit the office right at lunch hour, from which he never returned. So, we arranged a meeting for Mon., Mar. 17th… Erin Go Bragh!<br /><br />CREEPIN BACK UP II: We indeed met on Mar. 17th, and there was a bit of power in our numbers. Just having two relatively calm Malawian men with me to back up my claim of the bogus MK5,800 charge on my bill, seemed to produce some sort of result with the man behind the desk. Let’s just say it’s now ‘under investigation,’ with me vehemently suggesting that ESCOM absorb the costs for irregular billing of its customers (ya, they claimed that my exhorbitant reading back in Sept. ’07 right after I arrived was the result of ‘underbilling’ a previous customer…). Now, he’s investigating who was underbilled, and how long ago, and then if we can locate this person the bill might get paid. Hmmm… I think we’re breakin them down slowly… this reasoning cannot hold up… but then again, this is the powerful power-producing- and hoarding electric company. I have a love/hate relationship with bein the underdog. I think we’re gonna win this one… We shall see… Hopefully the ‘luck o’ the Irish’ was with us…<br /><br />ROLLIN DOWN III: My friend David discovered he will not be able to buy my car after all, due to the RIDICULOUSLY INFLATED duty tax! It’s MK500,000 (about $3500 USD). This is about ¾ of the price I paid for the car. Looks like I have to find another buyer, likely a foreigner who doesn’t have to pay duty.<br /><br />CREEPIN BACK UP III: No upside yet, though I have talked with a couple of Mzungus who might be in the market soon. I’ve also got the car advertised in a newsletter in Lilongwe, set up by the Public Affairs people who are my contacts. No bites yet. Still creepin slowly…<br /><br />ROLLIN DOWN IV: We had some trouble moving forward with the Village to Village Orphanage Reading Room project, due to the carpenter getting sick, and taking a much longer time to complete it than we’d planned. In addition, the painting phase was the opposite—a bit rushed for my taste, and I didn’t get to oversee as much of that phase as I’d hoped.<br /><br />CREEPIN BACK UP IV: Upon starting the ‘book-stocking’ phase of the project, I’m having much better luck, as well as a lot of fun and renewed excitement for the project. Not only have I taken a couple of very successful trips into Blantyre to look at and order kids’ books—1st with Deliwe and her younger brother Movuto 2 weeks ago, then with Deliwe last week—but I’ve also solicited the help of a few friends back home via a spam e-mail asking for book donations. The most fruitful response came from my Godfather’s daughter-in-law Kimberly Gonder, who is a 7th-grade Geography teacher at Pine Ridge Middle School in Naples, FL. As luck would have it, her classes are currently studying a unit on Africa, so she managed to get her students to organize a school-wide book drive. My last e-mail from her put the book-count into the hundreds! Yahoo! Not only that, but several students at her school are getting involved in a pen-pal program with secondary school students in Mzuzu (in the northern region of Malawi) as the result of a request by one of my ‘distance-learner’ student teachers from last November. These two developments are the most exciting for me since I came to Malawi. I love the idea of getting kids back home involved with my project here, as well as communicating with Malawian kids. I’ve gotten all teary-eyed a few times while reading Kim’s e-mails! Thanks so much to Kim, her colleagues, and the students at Pine Ridge! You guys ROCK!!<br /><br />ROLLIN DOWN V: I actually had an experience this past week which was a first for me. One of my students passed away due to liver failure. He was in his late 30s, and also a student at Domasi Demonstration Primary School. Needless to say, there is no upside to that one.<br /><br />ROLLIN DOWN VI: I had to postpone a trip up north over the long Easter holiday weekend (they get Friday AND Monday off here, like the Brits) due to a change in the graduation schedule at DCE for the students who finished in Sept. ’07 (Ya, here they have to wait for exam results to come out months later before they hold the ceremony). It was originally set for Mar. 29, but was moved back to Mar. 22 due to the busy schedule of a certain VIP graduation speaker. <br /><br />CREEPIN BACK UP VI: The graduation speaker at DCE was the President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika. So, for the first time in my life I got to see a Head of State in person, in the flesh, speaking live. Too bad they seated us on the stage behind him, so I mostly saw the back of his head (which, of course, made me wonder if they’d ever do this in the U.S. due to the obvious security risks… no friskin upon entry, btw, just in case you were wonderin…)<br /><br />ROLLIN DOWN VII: Internet service is still spotty and unreliable. When it works, it generally only works for awhile, and then goes out. If the internet doesn’t go out, the lights do. Which reminds me—we’ve had a few more blackouts in the last couple of weeks as well… ESCOM IS EVIL ESCOM IS EVIL ESCOM IS EVIL!!!!<br /><br />CREEPIN BACK UP VII: I was on the internet for a record 3+ hours Monday evening, though I didn’t get a posting up, since the video uploading was taking too long… (that was a bit of a downslide—I’m actually writing this posting at home—again—it’s becoming a trend now.)… In any case, I’m taking it as an omen that the service will be better this week. We shall see…<br /><br />CREEPIN BACK UP VIII: After several weeks of REALLY HOT weather since I arrived back in January, we finally had a MAJOR cool-down last week! Ah, I thought it'd NEVER come, but it did-- finally. It was funny how I was so energized in my classes, while many of my students were shivering under sweaters and down ski jackets... Ya, I'm not kiddin, and it was probably in the low 60s on the Fahrenheit scale (about 17 degrees Celsius). The students (as usual) thought I was nuts, wearing short sleeves, a skirt, and sandals (my usual daily attire here). They were also annoyed by my energized, giddy, happy attitude. Funny how perceptions of and reactions to weather/temperature are so subjective. Since last week, the weather has continued to be relatively cool, especially at night. YAAAHOOOOO!!!<br /><br />ONE LAST CREEP UP: I bought a bike last week, and finally had a chance to ride it today!! Good times… I’d forgotten how much ridin’ improves my mood… ironically, I bike a lot in the U.S., where most people drive everywhere. However, now that I’m living in a country where many people ride bikes just to get around, I never get to ride one myself. Now, I’m hopin to ride around more often, while providing more ‘crazy mzungu’ stares/stories for the local Domasi people. After all, that’s part of my job here, isn’t it?<br /><br />With that, ending on a 'high roll,' I’ll sign off for now. Tiwonana soon!! (Internet-God-and-ESCOM-Devil-willing, that is… ;-)Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-91257479771816909082008-03-06T10:25:00.003-05:002008-03-06T10:39:39.336-05:00Internet (and Chanco) woes continued…***NOTE*** I know I've promised pix of the latest trip to Liwonde Nat. park, but due to continued lack of internet, I'm unable to upload them at this time. Hopefully by Sunday, they should be there for all to view, along with a few taken since that trip 2 weeks ago ;-)***<br /><br />AAAARRRGGGHHH! I know it’s been over a week since my last posting! I’m actually writing this one from home on a Microsoft Word document on Wed. evening, hoping that I’ll have a better chance of getting a posting up by week’s end if I just write it ahead of time, since when I do get internet (either at Domasi or at Chanco), it seems to be limited—on again, off again, so to speak. My friend Jeff who is an ex-colleague from my days teaching at Samsung Human Resources Center in South Korea a couple of years ago recently joked during an online chat that the internet here might consist of hollowed out coconuts attached to strings. I know, this is not a very politically-correct joke, but I’m thinking of trying that method soon. Jeff, I’m not sure whether you’re still reading this blog, but take this as a warning that you’ll be the first one I call when I get that system up ‘n runnin’—Take heed, my friend…I’ve got a neighbor from Japan who’s a Computer Engineer… I wonder what he knows about coconuts? Maybe he’s got some ideas. I’ll keep ya posted…<br /><br />So, since my last posting, I do have a couple of updates, and then I’ll give a few details of our trip to Liwonde National Park a couple of weekends ago (as promised over a week ago). For that one, you’ll find that the pictures say much more than my rambling notes on this page, but I’ll try to do it all justice, as always…<br /><br />I’m sure many of the loyal, faithful, ever-devoted Malawi ‘n Me blog readers are dying to hear the latest news of the rumored lecturer’s strike at Chanco. Well, unfortunately, it is no longer a rumor. It is real. They went on strike officially last week when the University Council (i.e. ‘the government’ which funds and essentially ‘runs’ the college to an extent) would not negotiate the 200 % pay hike. Nevertheless, the council was forced to unfreeze (‘thaw-out??’) the frozen bank accts. due to a court injunction filed by the union lawyers. According to the local papers, that release of accounts took place on Monday afternoon of last week. So, upon phoning my dept. head at Chanco late last week, I was told officially that the strike is on. I’ve been on campus twice this week (the 1st time was Monday, a public holiday), and the 2nd time was yesterday, trying to get online—but that time I was interrupted by a storm-induced power outage. Both times, the place was like a ghost-town, though on Monday it sounded like the first-years were having some sort of a party, complete with a DJ blaring out hip-hop and Malawian pop music. Thus, it appears they’re not too shaken up by the never-ending extended holiday. <br /><br />So, what happens now? It depends on who you talk to. I saw two lecturers from Chanco yesterday, both off-campus, and from different depts. (not my own). The first one I saw outside the bank in the afternoon. She told me, “I think it will be resolved soon. But, even if it is, it’s likely to be at least 3 weeks before classes will begin, since several bodies have to meet to discuss the grade results.” This is another aspect of the Malawi educational system I’m still trying to wrap my little American brain around. There are several meetings that happen after grades are assessed. The first one is at the department level. The next one is at the ‘faculty’ level, meaning Humanities faculty, Science faculty, etc. After that, there is some sort of inter-disciplinary meeting (not sure who goes to that one), and then there’s some sort of administrative meeting, and then a Faculty Senate meeting. <br /><br />Now, all those Malawians out there, please take what I’m about to say with a ‘grain of salt’ because I come from a very different system. However, I must say I do not understand the point of all these meetings. Even the departmental one we had in Jan. seemed to me unnecessary, as it implies a need to ‘double-check’ grades to make sure they are ‘consistent and fair.’ However, I come from a place where grading/assessment is up to the discretion of the professor/lecturer who should be scholarly and professional enough to assess his/her own grades based on his/her course criteria and expectations. For me, it was a bit of a shock, and somewhat demeaning to have others look at my grades and make comments. We also did that with the exams, with everyone checking each other’s exams to make sure they were o.k., despite the fact that we did not teach the same courses (a process I start again tomorrow at Domasi.) Again, I’m not sure exactly why, except that there seems to be a perceived need to have some checks and balances on how lecturers assess their students. However, for me, the question still begs: If my colleagues have some issue with a grade or two on my roster, should I then change it simply because they say so? Is this ethical? What happens if the student finds out such a change was made, after he/she was assessed for the course, based on my criteria of what constitutes the score? It all seems very odd to me, and I just wanted to point that out. Again, take it with a grain. I’m an outsider, and still learning. Plus, I just bloody hate meetings, of any kind. So, any excuse to NOT have a meeting is heaven in my book, and any excuse to HAVE a meeting, and then another one, and another one, and another one… that’s just bloody hell. Big grain, big grain… For me, deep breaths, happy place, puppies ‘n kitties…<br /><br />So, I guess they need to have this series of meetings about the grades, and then give some time for the upper-classmen (2nd, 3rd, and 4th years) to return to campus. Altogether, it takes a good 3 weeks to a month. We’re now at the end of the 1st week of March. This means at earliest, the campus will open again, teaching and all, during the final week of March, or, more likely, the first week of April. I’m not sure whether they celebrate April Fool’s day here, but I’ll keep my guard up if the announced start date is April 1. BTW, I’m set to leave the country on June 1, so I likely won’t be able to finish out the term regardless of what happens. BTW, the 2nd lecturer I ran into yesterday evening said she thought the term will never start. This week went by and no official word yet. I’ll keep you posted.<br /><br />In other news, Deliwe and I took a nice hike up Zomba Mtn. on Saturday, and I finally got to see the famous “Queen’s View” and “Emperor’s View” of the Zomba Plateau. I’ll save my descriptions of that trip for the next posting, as well as the pix. Let’s just say it was a really nice day, and we had a great time, lots of exercise, topped off by fabulous food and too much coffee (on my part). I forgot they often serve a WHOLE pot of coffee here, and since I hardly drink the stuff anymore (only after-dinner treat at fancy restaurants), I literally could not sleep Saturday night. I was wide awake at 4 a.m., and really hungry for some reason, so Penga and I had some quality time in the kitchen at her usual wake-up time. Of course, I heard a few passers-by at some point as well… ya, I was truly on Malawi-time that morning. The freaky ‘caffeine high’ after-effects actually lasted most of the day, as my friend David can attest.<br /><br />On Sunday, I went to visit my friend David and his family (wife Zion and little daughter) in Blantyre. They of course fed me nicely, and we watched their wedding video and also looked at the wedding pictures. Since I haven’t yet had the opportunity to attend a wedding here, it was good to see how it all works. I did find out that if I do attend a wedding here, I need to bring a lot of small bills, as there is a custom of dancing while throwing money onto a platter for the couple. I think they played about 20 songs, and people kept coming up and throwing more money onto the platter! It was like Heaven! --Well, my materialistic idea of Heaven if you needed money there… I like this custom. I think I’d better get married soon and try it for myself. I wonder if people back home would go for that. Gotta get some richer friends, and then get married. Could take awhile-- I’ll keep you posted…<br /><br />So, other than that, not too much to tell. I am having a major issue with my electric bill (which I’ve only paid part of), but I’ll save that story for another time. It’s a long one. Basically boils down to the fact that I inherited someone else’s bill (the woman who moved out of here a year ago—April 2007) since she never had a final meter reading taken and failed to close out her bill. Then, another woman lived there for 3 months, and never received a bill, though it appears they read her meter. In any case, after much investigation, visiting 2 offices in Zomba several times and one in Blantyre, speaking with a total of 5 different people at different times on the matter, as well as waiting for over a month for an itemized statement, I was finally told this was the reason that my bill was so high. Yesterday, I finally paid for the part I think I really owe. Not sure if they’ll cut me off anyway. May need to develop the coconut string thing very soon. I’ll keep you posted…<br /><br />And finally, the news you’ve been waiting for! Our trip to Liwonde National Park 2 weekends ago! Well, as you know, we’ve been there before. I chronicled our journey to the park back in October ’07 in great detail, so this one will be a bit less lengthy (well, just a bit—you know me). The major difference with this trip is that we stayed inside the park, in a campsite called Chinguni Hills. I was really looking forward to this, as I haven’t ‘camped out’ in quite a while, and it’s one of my favorite things to do. We only did a one-night overnight (Sat.-Sun.) since Deliwe is in school on Friday afternoons. In the end, that was just fine, as one night was more than enough, at least for the weekend we had chosen, probably the busiest weekend the place has ever seen. More on that in a moment.<br /><br />I felt a little jinxed, actually, because I’d chosen that particular weekend for our trip on purpose, as I knew the following weekend was a holiday weekend, so might be a bit busy for traveling. With this in mind, and my need to really ‘get away,’ I thought I’d laid out a great plan. Well, you know what they say about ‘the best laid plans of mice and men…” Ya. The place was packed. Not only packed, but packed with kids. No, not little rugrat kinda kids… the worst kind. Teenagers. But not just teenagers. Rich, spoiled brat British teenagers who thought they owned the bloody world, much less bloody Malawi, and the little Bloody Liwonde National Park… (Incidentally, have you noticed my fondness for the term ‘bloody’? the best curseword ever made, and ya, it’s British… I don’t hate all British things… love most of them, except for those bloody British blue-blood boring little brats)<br /><br />Oh, but I could go on and on… and I have! Those kids took over the entire campsite… all the good ‘hangin out’ chairs with the great views of the river, the porch area outside the lodge, everything. We couldn’t escape them. It got even worse after dark, when they stayed up drinking ALL NIGHT, continued their loud ridiculous conversations until bloody 2 a.m. (if my calculations are correct), capped off by a bloody hysterical girl freaking out over a big spider or something (yes, I can relate, but luckily I was at home at the time...) Incidentally, I did find out later from one of the less annoying boys in the group (the boys in general were less annoying, actually) that all of them are ‘volunteers’ who just finished their secondary school (hence yes, about 17 years old) and are teaching in primary schools around Malawi for 3 months and then traveling around southern Africa for a month. I’m not sure how this could possibly work, as these kids admitted having no background or teacher-training. Teaching standards continue to be an issue in the Malawi public education system, which is something we are working on in our own education programs at Domasi College, which I’m proud to say are lauded as the best in the country. This type of ‘volunteer group’ is one symptom of the larger disease here; though I can’t be certain whether these kids are adding to the problem, my instinct tells me quite frankly, YES, bloody likely.<br /><br />So, enough about them. That was the bad news. But, there was some good news, too. On Saturday evening, Deliwe and I decided to do our own ‘sunset drive’ around the park to see some wildlife. We had checked into doing a ‘sunset safari’ in one of the park jeeps, but that was quite expensive, and we figured the car would be just fine. However, we did run into a few rough patches on the road (filled with water, since we’re still in the rainy season), but the trusty Toyota made it through some nasty stuff as usual, despite my newly-acquired tendency to increasingly try my luck on insanely pot-holed, boulder-ridden Malawi dirt roads. In the end, we only spotted a few waterbuck, bushbuck, and impala, but found out later we’d passed up a group of elephants since we couldn’t see over the tall grass. Oh, so THAT’S why people pay 20 bucks a head to ride in the jeep. Hmmm….<br /><br />After we returned from our little Toyota safari, car and bodies intact against all odds (though, ironically, I did bump into a stone wall while parking and knocked the back right hubcap off—no real damage done), we discovered that almost all of our teenage friends had gone on that sunset safari (we passed them on the road, actually, and I turned to Deliwe and said… we gotta hurry back before the bar closes and grab those chairs with the view!). Sure enough, the chairs were there, empty, with a bunch of the stuff people left behind (empty bottles, blankets, binoculars—gifts, perhaps?). Perhaps they were staking their claim, but we invaded anyway. The only bad news was that the bar seemed to be closed. AARGH! We’d seen the barman walking along the road. Hopefully, he was coming back. After waiting a few mins., we saw him at the campsite, working up an open fire for the braii dinner to come later. AH! Our luck seemed to be changing after all. Soon we had cold beers in our hands, and were enjoying the sunset in peace and quiet. <br /><br />After a few minutes enjoying our beers and the sunset, a young, friendly Scottish couple came by, whom I remembered seeing during lunch (which was traumatic, filled with the snotty kids pushing their way around… long story, I’ll leave it at that). In any case, I remembered that these two were also very quiet, and seemingly as disturbed by the loud horde of whiney teenage girls trying to impress their male counterparts, or each other, or something… In any case, they were extremely friendly, interesting, and just the kind of people I was hoping to run into during this stay. Their names were Kirsty and Graem. She’s a doctor, and he works for the British foreign service as a consultant, currently working on policy in Iraq. Very interesting stuff, but of course he couldn’t share too much with a loud, opinionated American like me. Still, we had a great conversation which continued to dinner, and on into a little canoe safari the next day. In addition, while in line for the braii dinner later that evening, I managed to chat with another couple from the Netherlands, also not with the British horde (and equally unamused by their presence), who also turned out to be very interesting and friendly, and whom we talked with more the next day at breakfast and during the canoe safari as well. As it turned out, the Dutch group included 2 medical students working at a private hospital called St. Luke’s in Malosa, just 10 minutes’ drive north of Domasi. Unfortunately, that’s the place where Deliwe’s aunt passed away last November, so I know it well. I’ve been there a couple of times since, but luckily under better circumstances. In any case, that was quite the coincidence. One of the guys was leaving soon, and his girlfriend was traveling around Malawi with him before he leaves the country, but the other one will be here for another 6 weeks, so hopefully we can get together again soon. I actually gave them a ride back to Malosa after the canoe safari the following day.<br /><br />So, the next morning, we got up early (despite loud teenagers all night), had breakfast, and headed out to our canoe safari. The pix at left really say it all. It was about 2 hours long, but we only saw a few hippos in the first few minutes after emerging from the tall grass. We had to remain calm, but Graem admitted to me later that he was very nervous about the hippos. I was, too, as they seemed rather close to the canoe, and I now know that they are the most dangerous animal in the park, and possibly in Africa. Of course, we’d just finished listening to the guide telling us about how people had been attacked by hippos in the park, in a canoe. When I asked whether the people were on one of these canoe safaris, the guide was silent. ‘Nuff said. I remember Graem saying something like, “But aren’t they herbivores?” to which the guide said, “Yes, but they can still kill.” (if I remember his words correctly). Yikes. I was actually happy that we didn’t see anymore after that. <br /><br />Of course, the other main attraction during the canoe safaris is crocodiles. Luckily, we didn’t see any of them. Why are people going out in canoes to see animals that have been known to attack people in canoes? It’s a good question. Ya, when I was out there in the middle of the water, I felt like a complete idiot. When I realized nothing dangerous seemed to be in the water, I relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. Take note: I think that’ll be my last time riding in a canoe in Africa…. I’ll keep you posted.<br /><br />So, in the end, we survived the journey, saw a few animals (but no Elephants this time!! WHHAAAAA!!), and made a few new friends. I even ran into Kirsty and Graem the following Monday while running errands in Zomba, and made arrangements to meet them up on Zomba mountain the following evening for a meal and some drinks at my favorite restaurant, Ku Chawe Inn. We had a really nice chat. Too bad they were only visiting, so left this past weekend. Perhaps we’ll meet up someday in the Highlands of Scotland. I’ve got roots (or maybe branches) there, or so I’m told… I’ll keep you posted.<br /><br />That’s it for now. Tiwonana… someday soon, I hope, internet-willing!! I’ll work on that coconut-string-network thing and get back to ya!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-66774641587972777442008-02-25T11:29:00.005-05:002008-02-25T12:54:53.611-05:00Weekend in Wilderness, Chanco in CrisisWell, it appears for now that we have internet service restored at Domasi College... Yahoo! So, that means all my 3-5 or so faithful readers may soon be able to enjoy my ramblings of my endless adventures here on a daily basis again... Lucky you! I'm not making the 'free Malawi gin' promise again though, since the new connection has been rather spotty, and is confined to a small faculty computer center which can get quite busy, rather than our individual offices, as was the case back in '07. I'll use this week as a tester and get back to my loyal readers once I have a verdict on returning to my fabulously-famous daily ramblings--er, posts, I mean...(complete with free gin offer!)<br /><br />So, as suggested by the title above, I had my first weekend away since arriving back in Malawi in January, and it was quite a nice little trip. Deliwe gladly came along, and we drove back up to Liwonde National Park (where we went back in October) just for a one-night stay at a minimally-developed a campsite in the park. We didn't see as much wildlife this time, but did run into more wildlife of the human kind than we had anticipated, due to the arrival on the same weekend of a 30-plus group of teenagers from the UK. This form of human wildlife added a dimension to our getaway which was a bit unexpected, but created a few interesting stories nonetheless. Let's just say I came away from the experience with a few new friends, none of whom were in that teenage group. I'll leave it at that for now.<br /><br />However, rather than telling those and other stories of our weekend adventures, I'd like to focus this post on the experience I had at Chanco today, and save the weekend story for tomorrow when I'll have a few pix to post along with my stories. In the meantime, I'll post a few more of the pictures I promised last week in order to get caught up. So, for those faithful who check this site daily, you'll have something to look forward to tomorrow, eh?<br /><br />So, as for today, I wanted to post the latest news from Chancellor College (a.k.a. Chanco) regarding the ever-present lecturer's strike. Remember last December? I think I'd updated my readers on the situation then, but just as a refresher, there had been a strike regarding demands for a 200 percent pay increase which was apparently approved by government back in 2005. If I understand the issue correctly, the 200 percent was a portion of an original 500 percent increase to be paid to lecturers over a period of time, though this period was not clearly agreed upon by the University Council (Government) and the Lecturer's Union. The teaching strike which took place starting in October of last year was finally ended when the lecturers reluctantly agreed to a 20% increase in late October (following a student protest of the strike after about 5 weeks without instruction), pending further negotiation after the end of the semester. However, this negotiation apparently never took place. Because of this, the lecturers who are part of the union (not all of them are, and I'm not sure what the percentage of members is, but I think it's about 50%) decided to withhold their end-of-semester grades until the University Council agreed to meet their demand of a 200% pay increase.<br /><br />Of course, the withholding of the grades has a serious consequence here in that it forces the delay of commencement of the next term, as several meetings must take place regarding the finalization of the grades, recording them, submitting them to heads, deans, and students, followed by an agreement by the administration as to when the new term will start. From my own experience, this is quite different from how it's done at other academic institutions, at least in the U.S, where departments do not meet to confirm grades and then submit them to deans, who then meet again to review and approve them prior to deciding on the start of the semester. Where I come from, we follow an academic calendar and keep to deadlines. If an instructor misses the deadlines, then he/she might request an extension, or some other type of arrangement, but this does not affect the academic calendar. Hence, this type of system was quite confusing to me (still is, quite frankly). However, what I do understand is that this system is very conducive to the type of action that is taking place. In order to pressure the government powers to meet their salary demands, withholding grades is a viable option for lecturers here, as it enables them to disrupt the academic calendar, thus the start of the new term.<br /><br />In this case, only the union lecturers agreed to withold the grades, but those who do not belong to the union (many in disagreement with this type of action) decided to submit their grades on time. Despite this, the University Council took a very serious step this past Friday-- just after lecturers' salaries were deposited into people's accounts, the council somehow (with cooperation from the banks) managed to freeze the accounts so that no one could withdraw their money. Many were saying they couldn't even access money they had apart from their salaries. This action was not taken only against lecturers in the union, but against all academic staff at the college, regardless of whether they'd submitted the grades or not. In addition, all were given an ultimatum to submit their grades by tomorrow (Tues. Feb. 26) or the salary/acct. freeze would not be lifted. Wow. A shocker for me. Of course, I'm not personally affected, as my pay comes from the lovely U.S. Taxpayers-- (Thanks, you guys! I loveya!! Rest assured, I taught all of my classes last term, and submitted my grades on time... your money's been very well-spent on me, and by me ;-)<br /><br />So, today the Humanities Dept. called an emergency meeting to decide what will happen next. After much discusssion (a little over 2 hours--very short by Malawian standards, btw), a decision was made to let the council know that the faculty takes serious offense to the fact that their bank accts. were affected, especially considering the fact that the dispute was between the union lecturers and the council, not the entire faculty. Add to this the fact that one of the Education Ministers in the Government was quoted on the front page of the paper saying something like, "If they're unhappy with their salaries, they should quit." Many union lecturers in the meeting reassured their colleagues that the union lawyers did manage to get a court injunction against the salary/acct. freeze and it should've been lifted sometime today, though I haven't gotten any confirmation on that yet.<br /><br />All in all, the long and short of it is that this labor dispute seems to have escalated into a battle, if not a war, between the academic staff and the government university council. As many asserted in the meeting, the council seems to have decided to take such an action in order to 'pit' the non-union members against the union-members, by punishing everyone for the actions of a few. Luckily, they don't seem to be taking the bait (at least not in the Humanities Dept.), and the Union lawyers seem to have taken care of this legally-questionable action by the University Council as well.<br /><br />The sad part is, we're already a good month behind schedule on an academic calendar that was already a year behind schedule due to this dispute when I arrived here. Unfortunately, those who suffer most in this whole process are the students, still waiting at home for the new academic term to begin. Not only that, but the first-year students who are already on campus for orientation may actually be sent home next week if this thing doesn't get resolved soon. For their sake, I hope it does. That said, Tiwonana Mawa, hopefully with better news--stay tuned.Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-77187372363369578732008-02-17T10:25:00.004-05:002008-02-17T13:34:23.145-05:00Yup, I'm still here! (In Malawi, that is...)**NOTE: At several times during this post, I mention new pictures to be posted. Some are already here. Some will come throughout the week, so stay tuned!!**<br /><br />First of all, please let me apologize profusely to my 5-6 faithful readers (a number which I'm afraid has dwindled to 0-0) for not posting much earlier. Of course, I have a million excuses for my nearly one-month hiatus, none of which you're interested in, but all of which have to do with lack of the following: internet access, time, energy (both electrical and human). I'm sorry to say that despite the best intentions of the administration at Domasi College of Education (where I live, for those who have forgotten), we as yet do not have internet access on campus. This, of course, means I must travel about 30 mins. to Chancellor College and then log on hoping that I (1) can get online--service is spotty, and (2) the connection is fast enough for me to do all the things I need to do online in one sitting. After having the convenience of internet service on-campus at Domasi in 2007, this is taking a lot of getting used to, since I prefer to write my blog entries in the evening after dinner when my mind is sharpest. However, due to the current situation, I'm forced to write during the day, scheduling time for the drive, taking care of other internet-related activities, etc., usually with a VERY SLOW connection. As I may have mentioned earlier, this leaves little time for a decent blog entry. Perhaps I'm too much of a perfectionist, but I'd rather not do it at all that do it sloppily and in haste (hmmm... that could be dangerous in another context).<br /><br />So, after breaking my promise not to bore you with all my excuses, let's get on with it. It's been a long time, hasn't it? So much to tell, but I'll try to limit it to the highlights. Before I do so, however, I did want to let everyone out there who is waiting patiently for the video I promised weeks ago to know that I have not yet figured out how to upload a video onto this blog. When I look at the set-up, it appears that I can only download from 'YouTube' or 'Google Videos', and I don't think it would be appropriate to post the little videos I make for this blog onto those sites. So, if any computer wizzes out there know how to upload a video onto a blog without using YouTube or Google Videos, please feel free to insert a comment below this post to let me know. I'd really appreciate it, as I was hoping to share some interesting experiences via video on this blog between now and the end of my fellowship June 1.<br /><br />So, yes, it appears that I'm now on the downslope of my journey-- meaning, among other things, past the mid-point. I now have approximately 3 and 1/2 months to go in this 9-month experience. This, of course, has created some mixed feelings for me, as at times this seems like an eternity, and at others it feels like a nanosecond in the grand scheme of my time here. I suppose since coming back from a visit home, I've been a little bit out of sorts, as I'm a bit trapped between two worlds, not really fitting neatly into either one. Those out there who have lived for an extended period overseas (or still do) can relate to this feeling. Though I often have a sense of looking forward to leaving in June, there's another part of me that wonders how difficult it will be to leave a place that in some ways is beginning to feel a bit more like 'home'.<br /><br />Like any experience, however, there are good days and bad days. As promised, the highlights and lowlights over the past months are as follows (in backwards order --present to past--, as that's how my backwards brain tends to remember things):<br /><br />Hmmm... Good news first, or bad news? Let's do the bad news first to end on a happier note:<br /><br />Lowlights:<br />1) Almost every week since I've returned from my holiday visit to the U.S., I've suffered from some type of ailment. The latest one seems to be a slight cold/allergy. Though it's nothing serious, I'm feeling a bit run down and groggy. Before that, I was having stomach/intestinal issues. Before that, another 'feminine' issue I won't give the details of, but something I'm prone to, especially in times of stress. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but I certainly have not been as healthy physically since coming back as I was during my first 3 months in the country.<br /><br />2) This past week, several people (all Malawians) have come to me asking for money. While I really like to help people out, I'm now having some mixed feelings about this issue. The Malawians reading this blog, as well as the Mzungus living here, know what I'm talking about. There's a tendency (likely begun during the British colonial period) of locals believing that all those with white skin are infinitely rich and willing/able to fund/sponsor anyone in need. Now, at some level, the relative wealth part is true. Most visiting Mzungus do have much more money than most local Malawians. However, those who come here to live are here to do a job, hopefully helping the local population to improve their circumstances, not by donating money to them, but by helping them to acquire skills and gain access to materials and training that will benefit their lives now and in the future. As I've contemplated the continuous requests for money, I've now limited my charitable lending (not giving) to those who can provide some sort of proof that the money is being used for further education or training. I do have a very generous heart, for I as well came from a background in which I did not have a lot of money or means to advance my education, but relied at least in part on the generosity of a scholarship fund to help me get through school. In this spirit, I'm doing my best to help those who are willing to help themselves. This week, I did have to draw the line, however, and have decided not to give out any more loans during my stay here. Saying 'No' to people in need is not one of my stronger suits. However, I have also been warned by many locals here that several people 'embellish' their stories and end up using the money lent for less viable endeavors such as the 'bottle store' (i.e. liquor store). Advice well-taken. Let's just say I ask a lot more questions now.<br /><br />3) Deliwe's mother's mud-brick house collapsed under the weight of heavy rains a few weeks ago. Fortunately, she did have a relative living nearbye who is now staying in Mozambique and was able to allow her to move into her house until she can re-build. Deliwe had told me just a couple of days before the collapse that she was very concerned about the house, and that the plastic we'd purchased for the roof back in November was leaking again (due to the munching of at least one nasty little rat living in the thatched roof--bloody varmint!). Though I'd just helped her to buy more plastic to replace it, the heavy rains were just too much, and unfortunately the house fell. The other good side of this story is that only the kitchen area was initially affected, so no one in the house was hurt, since this happened late at night, and the bedrooms stayed intact. Deliwe's mother lives with her teenage son (Deliwe's brother) Movuto and a young niece, so this was a very lucky outcome as well. Of course, had they not been able to stay elsewhere, our house would have been open to them until they could re-build. These days, the rains have become much less frequent, so hopefully they'll be able to re-build soon. I hope to help them in that venture in any way I can, including my vast knowledge of home construction (he he just kidding...;-) Maybe I can elicit the help of my little sis Heather, who's an expert in that area.<br /><br />3) The carpenter involved with the orphanage project fell ill with Malaria a few weeks ago, and essentially abandoned the project (Malaria season seems to have come upon us since I returned in January--certainly due to the heavy rains). Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of this immediately, and upon visiting the project last Saturday, was told he'd be back to work again to finish. However, he never did return to work, despite the orphanage director Alfred's insistance that he is no longer feeling ill. This means we'll have to demand some of his pre-paid stipend back in order to hire another carpenter to finish the job. I'm now a bit concerned that the project is falling behind, and hoping that will not happen. Luckily, Alfred seems to be on top of things, and thinks he can find a reliable person to finish the job this week so that we can start on phase II: the painting.<br /><br />4) The housekeeper next door to us also fell VERY ill with Malaria a few weeks ago. For those reading from outside Africa, I've learned that there seem to be several types of Malaria, with various symptoms, ranging from mild to serious. This woman had a type that was VERY serious, and to my surprise, her employers (though one was at home) did not help her at all. The housekeep actually had to send someone to ask Deliwe for help, as her and Deliwe are good friends. Deliwe then told me how she was suffering, so I took her to a private hospital a few miles away in a town called Malosa. Luckily, she received excellent care there, and within 2 days, was released healthy and back to normal. Needless to say, she no longer works for those employers. Word around the campus/village has me branded a hero for saving her, and her employers as the opposite. Though I do not consider myself a hero, I was, and still am, confounded by the fact that someone was there who could have helped her, and chose not to do so. Perhaps there's a part of the story I still don't understand, though I could never bring myself to confront these people on this matter. In any case, I'm certainly not a hero. I just did the right thing, which I believe anyone should do in a similar situation. <br /><br />5) This last lowlight is a bit out of order, but I must bring it up. It's gotten HOTTER again. When I came back in January, the weather had definitely cooled down, at least in part due to the rains. However, this past week, the temperatures definitely shot up again. I'm told the true cooling down happens in April, though I'm really hoping it'll happen sooner. I'm not sure if I can survive the Oct./Nov. temps. again... HELP!!<br /><br />That's it for the lowlights... Now a middle-light (made-up word--i.e. 'jen-ism' for a story that's half-bad, half-good)<br /><br />-+ We had a SERIOUS blackout on the Domasi campus about a month ago, due to a blown transformer caused by lightning hitting one of the above-ground power lines. This story actually is mostly negative, but bordering on positive, because the problem was remedied much faster than we anticipated. The power went out on a Saturday evening at about 6 p.m., and never returned all day the following Sunday. That, in fact, was the day I decided to go up to Ku Chawe Inn on Zomba mountain with some friends to enjoy the view and some good food (see below). Unfortunately, upon my return Sunday evening, we still had no electricity. It never came back all night, and still nothing on Monday morning. At that point, I began to realize what life is like for the majority of Malawians living in villages with no electricity. Of course, I've had this experience on a much smaller scale as a back-country backpacker/camper back home (and also during a very bad ice-storm in the 70s as a young kid), but this was very different. I realized how dependent I am on electrical power for so many things. The things I missed most were hot showers (it was actually pretty cool back then) and the refrigerator. Food was going bad, especially the yogurt I'd bought the day before the blackout... ugh. The amazing part of the story, however, is that the electric company, known as ESCOM, somehow came through with a new (or newer) transformer, after informing the Domasi College administration that they may have to ship it to Blantyre to be fixed, and it would take at least 3 days (translation: at least a week, probably two). The unofficial story speculated by many was that they'd have to send it to South Africa due to the lack of a qualified technician in Malawi to fix it (which is common for many similar issues here, due to brain-drain and other issues involving access to technical/higher education, but I digress). Let's just say we were all preparing for at least one long, cold dark week (probably 2). Then, lo and behold, the following day (Tuesday), the ESCOM technicians showed up with a big lorry (semi truck) loaded with a new (or new-looking) transformer. They proceeded to install it while gaping spectators, myself among them, watched in shock, awe, and amazement. We couldn't believe our eyes. This is the company that was known for not reading meters for months, failing to bill people for their usage, and then suddenly switching off their electricity prior to slapping them with a huge bill (I know because it happened to me back in September, shortly after my arrival, of course for usage by prior occupants of my house). Somehow, they got it together. Our electricity was up and running by nightfall that day. I'm still in shock. Electric shock. Pun intended.<br /> <br /><br />OK, so finally on to the better news, the highlights:<br /><br />1) I just learned a couple of days ago that my favorite band, THE POLICE, are extending their tour, currently in Europe, to conclude in the U.S. this summer!! Woo Hoo! Carrie, my best buddy in worshipping this band, is on the mission of getting us some really good seats during the pre-sales starting tomorrow--the goal is first 5 rows, toward the center--ya, could be a long shot, but we're goin for it anyway. We're also hoping to repeat our 2-show tour of last summer. Wish us luck! How does this relate to Malawi, you ask? One NGO benefitting from the huge profits made during this tour is WaterAid (mostly thanks to Sting and his wife Trudie). Check their website to see the work they're doing to improve access to potable water in Malawi and other developing nations around the world. <br /><br />2) I joined an aerobics club in Zomba which is run by the P.E. teacher at Domasi College, meeting 2 nights a week. I realized that last year, after purchasing my trusty Toyota, I wasn't getting enough exercise (ironically, as most people here get so much more exercise just by walking), so I thought the club would be a good idea. So far, it's going very well, I'm slowly getting back into shape, having fun, and meeting some really cool people in the process. In addition, the group is planning a trip to Zambia in April, which is one of the destinations I really want to visit before leaving the continent. I'm really excited to be doing that with a local group, rather than with Mzungu tourists, which was plan B. Woo hoo! I'm also good friends with a guy on the planning committee (a colleague who joined the aerobics group with me), so I'm hoping to have enough influence to make sure we make it to Victoria Falls for a day. Wish me luck on that, too!<br /><br />3) Deliwe started attending school again. It was her wish to repeat her Form 4 courses (for the Americans, that's the British/Malawian equivalent of the senior year of high school) in order to get higher scores on the government-designed exams in a bid to eventually continue her education at the post-secondary level. Though the system here is quite competitive, it does allow for students who want to repeat and/or finish their studies as adults to attend night classes at the secondary school. Luckily, Domasi has both a primary and a secondary school on campus. With funding from her previous employer Fay, who was a Fulbright scholar living in my house in June/July 2007, she was able to begin classes about 3 weeks ago, and seems to be doing very well. I contributed by purchasing a few school supplies for her during a visit to Blantyre, and have since been told that she's the envy of all her classmates due to the superior quality of her school supplies. Good stuff.<br /><br />4) I've discovered the beauty and brilliance of Zomba mountain, finally. For some reason, I hadn't traveled to the top since the initial visit my first night in the area at the U.S. Embassy cottage, so I figured it was time. I've now been to the top 2 times, and plan to go much more often when I'm home on the weekends (as I have been since I came back). At the top of the mountain is an amazing fancy hotel by the name of Ku Chawe Inn (Ku Chawe is also the name of the village at the top of the mountain). Because it's a rather fancy hotel, they offer services such as a beautiful (but pricey) Sunday lunch buffet, so the 2nd time I visited, I made sure to go on a Sunday, accompanied by Tamake, a Japanese volunteer at Domasi. After a nice big lunch and a couple of refreshments (only 1 or 2 beers, I think), we went for a nice hike around the place. The hotel also offers maps of the trails/roads in the area, so I plan to explore these much more on future weekends. I'll post a few pix of our excursion today or tomorrow, so watch for those.<br /><br />5) I finally met Deliwe's younger brother Movuto, who comes to visit us on a regular basis, and is quite an impressive young man. He's also in Form 4, and Deliwe tells me he's no. 1 in his class. I have good reason to believe her assessment of his scholastic aptitude, as I lent him a very challenging historical book on the recent (post-apartheid) political situation in South Africa, and he finished it in a little over a week. I was amazed, as I have yet to tackle that book myself, which is why I brought it along with me to Malawi (purchased back in 2004, I'm embarrassed to admit). I'm enjoying our visits, and hoping to witness this young man have a very bright, promising future. My friend David--who also plans to purchase my car, another highlight this month-- tells me that talented students here can get money from the government for their higher education, as long as they are accepted to university. I've talked with Movuto about this, and I'm hoping to provide him some guidance that will help him to further his education. I know he will do great things if given the opportunity.<br /><br />That appears to be all for now. Right now, it looks like the negatives and positives are about even. Hopefully, my next post will lean more to the positive side. For now, it appears that we are all caught up--Whew!! Keep watching for more posts, especially pictures to come this week! Tiwonana for now! (***Reminder: Due to lack of internet access at Domasi, my posts will continue to be less frequent than in '07, though I do hope to post at least once or twice per week until internet access is fully restored at Domasi ;-)Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-80304313077021882372008-01-23T10:51:00.000-05:002008-01-23T11:48:49.193-05:00Don't worry, I'm still here!!Hello, all you truly faithful, checking every day, hour, minute and second for a new posting from Malawi 'n Me. We're both doing fine, btw (meaning Malawi 'n Me, if you didn't catch the little pun there). The major issue is my lack of convenient, fast internet access, which has limited my ability to properly update my faithful readers as to my latest adventures here. Among the issues are the fact that I need to drive 30 mins. to get to a computer with internet at my Chanco office. Once I arrive, I find that the connection and my laptop are very slow, and in order to take care of the things I need to do (update virus software, check e-mail, do my banking), it can take an exhorbitant amount of time. Not only that, but due to very heavy thunderstorms since I've come back, I often experience power outages and interruption of internet service here due to lightning strikes, etc. <br /><br />So, there's my list of excuses for not keeping this blog more faithfully updated. I haven't lost faith, and I hope you haven't either. Today, I'd planned on uploading a video (thanks to the cool Christmas gift from my little sis Heather) I made yesterday of something VERY interesting on the campus at Domasi College. Unfortunately, the SLOW laptop situation will not allow me to do that today (since that's where the video is located), so I'll just have to leave a 'tease' for my faithful readers to tune in tomorrow when I hopefully can share the video with you. Most of you from North America will be shocked at what you see!<br /><br />So, with that, I'll leave you to ponder the possibilites! Tiwonana MAWA!!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-6041996335020296692008-01-12T08:14:00.000-05:002008-01-12T09:46:49.510-05:00I'm finally back--in Malawi, and online...So, after about 2 or 3 comments and e-mails wondering what had happened to me, I realized that my faithful blog readership of 3-5 has sadly dropped to 2-3 :-( Oh, well, I suppose that's to be expected after the spotty postings over the holiday break, which, I'm sorry to announce, should continue now that I'm back on Malawi soil. Yes, as it turns out, I've actually been back in the Domasi/Zomba area since Tuesday, Jan. 8 (after a 48-plus hour journey back, including an 8-hour layover in Detroit, a 14-hour layover in Amsterdam, an overnight stay in Lilongwe, followed by a 4-hour drive from Lilongwe to Domasi on Tuesday). <br /><br />However, I soon discovered after my arrival that Domasi College still has no internet service. Those truly faithful may remember my comment in one of my last postings in 2007 that there was no internet service during my last few days in Domasi prior to leaving for the U.S. As it turns out, the service was out due to the fact that the contract with the internet service provider had ended in early December. Apparently, payment for that contract was subsidized by a Japanese aid organization known as JICA for a limited period of time until it was time for contract renewal. That time has now come, and according to my sources at the college, due to end-of-year budget deliberations, as well as a desire to change internet service providers, it's likely to be at least a good month until the service will be restored.<br /><br />Those who know me well know that this is like cutting my throat. The internet is my lifeline here. I do not know how I will survive. Luckily, while drowning in the sea of no-internet-desperation, I was thrown a lifeline yesterday, as I was told by a colleague that Chancellor College was open, and I would be able to log on there. Of course, I have an office at Chanco, so I finally came here yesterday to catch up on e-mail and the blog. Of course, since it'd been a week since I'd seen my e-mail, it took me a while to get through that, leaving the blog entry for today.<br /><br />Of course, as you may have figured out by now, this means that my promise of daily postings will be postponed until further notice. (Sorry Heather, no more free gin for you! You've had enough! ;-) I'll do my best to post at least once a week, maybe more when time allows, but I cannot be certain, as the service at Chanco can also be quite spotty, and it's a good 30-minute drive to get here (unlike the 5-minute walk to my office at Domasi). <br /><br />One thing that I can say is that I now feel much better that I can get online. Anyone reading this who has ever lived overseas, especially since the beginning of the information age, knows what I'm talking about. There are days of isolation and loneliness that are difficult to describe. Anyone who has lived overseas on their own has experienced this. If you say you have not, you did not go overseas alone, or you are a liar. It can be very difficult at times, and for me, the internet is my savior. I can catch up on the news back home (which can either help or hurt my mood, depending...), chat with my friends for free and in real time, read and respond to e-mails, and write in my blog. It's really what keeps me sane in those lonely moments. So, I must say, I'm incredibly thankful to the 'techies' and engineers who brought us this wonderful connection to the universe. How I lived without it during my 1st and 2nd lone foreign country living experiences in England and Mexico is now a complete mystery to me. Perhaps I was just stronger then. Well, certainly much younger, and I had roommates. In Mexico, I didn't even have a phone... used to run to the payphone once a week as I recall. Wow.<br /><br />As for news, the first item is very sad, I'm afraid. I called Deliwe the day before leaving the U.S., and one of the first things she said was, "I have to tell you about Willie." Immediately, I knew something terrible had happened. As it turns out, our little kitty was attacked by one of the neighborhood dogs about a week before I came back. Unfortunately, Deliwe couldn't get to him in time before some major damage had been done to his stomach. She even tried to get him to a vet twice, but the office wasn't open. After a couple of days, little Willie died. I'm still very very sad. Deliwe felt really badly about what happened, so spent the next week looking for another suitable kitty about the same size and age as Willie. She looked in several villages in the area and found a nice female kitten. We haven't named her yet. We just call her 'kitty' (me in English, Deliwe in Chichewa). I suppose we could have another contest to name her, but right now, 'kitty' is o.k. while we mourn the loss of Willie.<br /><br />The ironic thing in all this is that the dog that attacked Willie was Buster. Anyone out there who's been reading this blog long enough knows that Buster was the dog who was literally dying when I arrived in Domasi. He was emaciated, skin and bones, wormy, and had fleas. I helped one of the Mzungus he follows around campus to give him worm and flea medication back then, and have been feeding him religiously ever since. Essentially, I helped nurse that dog back to health. And this is how he repays my kindness. Yes, I know he's just a dog. But he came into the house (they rarely try to come in) and took the cat from my kitchen. Those two dogs I've been feeding were literally 'hunting' my kitty. Needless to say, we no longer feed them, and have banned them from our property. I've noticed for the past few days that they haven't been coming around. Is it possible that they got the message? Hmmm...<br /><br />So, partially because of the Willie incident, my return to Malawi has been bittersweet. Anyone out there who has lived overseas (or even in a city away from their home) knows this feeling as well. It's always more difficult to return after a visit home. Apart from the bone-chilling weather in the northeastern U.S., it was very hard to leave my friends and family there, and return to a place where I'm essentially alone much of the time during school breaks. If it weren't for Deliwe, the new kitty, and the internet, I'm not sure if I'd have made it through this past week, really. I know it may sound like a downer, but that's really how it is. I'm somehow addicted to overseas living, but the isolation factor is very real, especially during the initial adjustment, and now during the re-adjustment. I know it will get better, though, in due time.<br /><br />For me, this time before classes begin is always the most difficult, as I have a lot of free time to fill. The positive side of this is that I'll have enough time to plan my course at Domasi College which begins Jan. 21. It was initially set to begin Jan. 14, but the schedule was pushed back (or is it up? I always confuse those 2 expressions) a week due to some new year's budgetary issues. I guess this is also a common issue here in Malawi, as organizations have to figure their new budgets at the beginning of the year. The actual school year begins next Mon., Jan. 14, but my course is for 1st years who go through orientation, so it will start a week later. (Incidentally, due to the lecturers' strike at Chanco last semester, classes there will not begin until February or March.)<br /><br />So, this past week was spent mostly with trips into Zomba to buy food and other necessities for the house. I even had the steel belt in one of my tires replaced, which was a task I had put off for awhile. I know, exciting stuff.<br /><br />I do have a funny 'cop story' to tell, though. On Thursday, I was driving through the chaotic market/shopping area of Zomba (someday I'll take a picture or video on the cool camcorder my sister Heather got me for Christmas to show you just how chaotic it is), and I mistakenly drove the wrong way down one of the streets. Crap. I knew almost right away, as it is the 2nd time I've made this mistake. A couple of nice pedestrians pointed out my mistake, so I immediately tried to turn the car around, accidentally turning down another one-way street the wrong way in order to do so. By then, a couple of traffic cops walked up to my car. Then, I started having flashbacks of the 'triangle plate incident' as I like to call it. Remember that? If not, check past postings (about 2 months ago, I think). It's a good story. I even think the two cops (a woman and a man) might've been the same ones who stopped me that day.<br /><br />Here's the conversation that ensued:<br /><br />Man Cop: Madame, you are going the wrong way on a one-way street.<br /><br />Me: Yes, I know. I'm trying to turn around.<br /><br />Man Cop: This is also a one-way.<br /><br />Me: Yes, I know. I'm sorry. I just need to turn around.<br /><br />Man Cop: You are in violation. We'll have to take you to the station.<br /><br />Me: Really? But it was just a mistake. I didn't know.<br /><br />Woman Cop: Please let us in. (BTW, they don't have patrol cars here, so you actually have to give the cops a ride to the station. Something tells me this would never work in the States.)<br /><br />Both cops get into the back seat as Deliwe and I give each other the "oh, crap!" look.<br /><br />Woman Cop: Didn't you know this is a one-way street?<br /><br />Me: No, I didn't know. Is there a sign?<br /><br />Woman Cop: Yes, there's a sign at the junction.<br /><br />Me: Where? I didn't see it.<br /><br />Woman Cop: It's that yellow line painted on the road. It means 'Do not Enter' (referring to a bold yellow line painted across the road at the intersection)<br /><br />Me: Oh, I never even noticed that line. Is that what it means?<br /><br />Woman Cop: Yes. Maybe you should get a driver, if you don't know the traffic laws in Malawi.<br /><br />Me: Well, I've been driving for a couple of months, and this is my first violation. I just didn't know, I'm sorry.<br /><br />Woman Cop: When did you start driving?<br /><br />Me: Last September<br /><br />Woman Cop: in 2007?<br /><br />Me: Yes<br /><br />Woman Cop: I see.<br /><br />Me: It was really a mistake. I just forgot. (OOPS! NEVER should've said that)<br /><br />Woman Cop: I thought you said you didn't know.<br /><br />Me: Yes, I didn't know. I don't live in Zomba.<br /><br />Woman Cop: Where do you live?<br /><br />Me: In Domasi.<br /><br />Woman Cop: That's Zomba. (Note: Domasi is considered part of Zomba, as Zomba is the closest commercial center in the region, so all area villages are considered to be 'part of Zomba')<br /><br />Me: No it's not. It's 30 miles from Zomba!<br /><br />Woman Cop: So, you never drive in Zomba?<br /><br />Me: Well, not every day. I don't really know Zomba very well (as we all know, this is a bit of a lie...)<br /><br />At this point, we come to the major intersection to the main highway through Zomba. I turned left accidentally, on the road heading out of town towards Blantyre. This helped my case, as you'll see.<br /><br />Woman Cop: Where are you going? We need to go to the station.<br /><br />Me: Where is it?<br /><br />Woman Cop: It's the other way. Don't you know?<br /><br />Me: No. As I said, I don't know Zomba very well. Sorry!<br /><br />As I turn the car around in a parking area, the two cops have a discussion in Chichewa. After I turn around and head back into town in the correct direction, this is what she says:<br /><br />Woman Cop: As it turns out, we've decided to let you go this time, since you don't seem to know Zomba well. <br /><br />Me: (so excited I missed the turn back to the chaotic market area) Really? Thanks!<br /><br />Woman Cop: But please be careful. Next time, we won't forgive you. (This is one reason I think she was the same cop... at the end of the 'triangle plate incident,' she said something very similar: "Next time, I'll take you to court," I believe were her exact words.)<br /><br />Me: Thanks! Really, I'm sorry. It was an honest mistake. I'll be more careful.<br /><br />Woman Cop: OK, goodbye. <br /><br />After they left the car, Deliwe told me that when they were speaking Chichewa, they were commenting on the fact that Mzungus 'really know how to argue and explain their case...' I think they also commented on how lost I really seemed to be driving around Zomba... however, as we now know, that was just 'dumb luck'... literally.<br /><br />So, that's the latest story, which I was happy to relay to Melvin the taxi driver over a couple of beers last night, to celebrate the fact that his traffic court case was dropped just before I left for the U.S. That was the case in which I helped testify in early December, mentioned in an earlier post. We talked a lot about the traffic police situation, especially the inherent corruption in the system. Though no one has ever asked me for a bribe, I imagine had I offered one in either case, all charges likely would've disappeared. He also made a good point about the large number of traffic police in such a small town, all gathered in specific areas. This is quite a curious thing.<br /><br />With that, I'll leave my loyal readers. Ya, I'm back... Get ready for less frequent, but much longer posts until further notice! Tiwonana!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-27279008468480173842008-01-01T20:44:00.000-05:002008-01-01T21:04:01.042-05:00Happy New Year!I just realized that this blog (set to Malawi time) will appear on Jan. 2 in Malawi, though I'm actually writing it at 8:45 p.m. on Jan. 1 in the U.S. I just wanted to wish my 3-5 faithful readers (along with the much more numerous less-than-faithful readers) a very happy new year!! <br /><br />My sisters and nephews just left our house on Dec. 30, and it feels like we're having 'empty nest syndrome' now. The house is so quiet, and our youngest cat Homer doesn't know what to do without my nephews here to play with him. We had a great time together, and I was so glad to have at least most of my immediate family here with me during my visit home. <br /><br />Unfortunately, we weren't able to do the sledding trip we'd hoped to do, as the rain we had the weekend before Christmas virtually melted all the snow that had accumulated since late November. Ironically, on the day my sisters left, a new storm came through and dumped about 5-6 inches on us that evening. Luckily, neither sister's trip was affected, which was truly remarkable as both of them had to travel home through the dreaded 'Snowbelt' (Great Lakes region of the northern midwest for the Malawian readers). My younger sister Heather had a flight to Milwaukee with a connection in Detroit, while my older sister Greta and my nephews traveled by car to the Chicago area. Somehow, they both managed to travel outside the path of the storm...Whew!<br /><br />Since we'd stayed up late (playing 'Buzztime' trivia ;-) Dec. 29, and all were up early for a 6 a.m. departure (for me, to get my little sis to the Syracuse airport 2 hours away, and for Greta to get on the road as early as possible for her 10-hour drive), I was pretty wiped out on Dec. 30. I spent most of the day laying around the house. Yesterday was similar-- we only left to rent some movies for our New Years' Eve celebration, consisting of beer 'n Sukiyaki (ya, same as the Christmas meal--love the stuff), followed by red wine n chocolate, then capped off with spumante-style champaigne at midnight... oops. I wasn't feeling so well after that. (Ya, beer before liquor... duh--Cheesehead girl should know better...). <br /><br />So, as a result of last night's foolish drinking mistake, I was also feeling a bit out of it today. In the meantime, I just realized that I have a lot to do to prepare for my return to Malawi this Saturday (Jan. 5), so I've resolved to get myself back to Malawi-time (i.e. early to bed, early to rise...). Among other things, I need to sell my car and start figuring out my taxes. AAHH!! Wish me luck!! I hope your New Year has started out on a better foot than mine! Tiwonana!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1346925623860129858.post-56772484809666590822007-12-25T13:03:00.000-05:002007-12-25T15:12:31.254-05:00Happy Holidays!Since it's Christmas Day, I thought it might be nice to do a quick update posting to wish all of my faithful (and not-so-faithful) readers a very happy holiday season and fabulous new year! <br /><br />As for me, I'm on my own with my boyfriend today, actually getting ready for my family's arrival tomorrow. My sisters and two nephews were kind enough to travel a bit of a distance to see me this year (as they did last year), to spare me the trouble/extra cost of flying to the midwest to see them after making the trek over the Atlantic a week ago. They'll stay with us until Dec. 30, so I'm really looking forward to that. My cousin who lives a couple of hours from here will also be coming tomorrow, and possibly staying the night. <br /><br />Unfortunately, however, we made a special trip to a Japanese market in New Jersey (across the Hudson from Manhattan) Sunday (a 4.5 hour trip each way) and returned yesterday, but failed to finish cleaning the house before we went. Thus, at least part of our Christmas holiday will be spent cleaning up and organizing the house for our guests. Fun, fun! For us, Christmas really starts tomorrow, though, so that's o.k.<br /><br />So, the schedule will be: clean, possibly visit some nearbye friends (if time allows), cook special Japanese food (Sukiyaki, to be exact) for our holiday meal, go to a movie (probably "Charlie Wilson's War"). Hope we can get it all done!<br /><br />I must say I am missing Malawi lately, especially the weather. We'd planned to walk around Manhattan a bit on Sunday night, but it was literally pouring down rain, and so windy and miserable we just stayed in. We actually ordered in pizza, which is one of the 'simple' pleasures I missed while in Malawi. Though I rarely indulge in delivered pizza while here in the U.S., I suppose I just missed having the option. On a cold, blustery, rainy night, it managed to hit the spot.<br /><br />One other adventure since arriving back has been the strangeness of driving here again. Ironically, staying on the RIGHT side of the road hasn't been the problem. Now, it's figuring out the opposite side directionals/lights/wipers again (wipers/lights on right (up for higher speed/down for lower speed), directional on left (up for right, down for left)-- Ya, I keep turning on the wipers when I need to turn, and confusing up from down and right from left. Eventually, I'll have to go back to the opposite way after arriving back in Malawi Jan. 7. Should be fun. As always, I'll keep ya 'posted.'<br /><br />Another interesting observation is the silence. The place where I live in Malawi, though rather remote, is much noisier. If it's not the roosters, it's the random fish/vegetable peddlers yelling out the specials of the day, or neighbors/kids yelling "ODIE!" (similar to "Anybody Home?" in English), or dogs barking, or other signs of life that tend to seep into my windows. I really miss those noises (well, maybe not the dogs at midnight and the roosters at 4 a.m.), but generally, this place is too quiet for me. Perhaps the weather has something to do with it. Ya, the weather. Everyone's inside, and apart from the random car whizzing by now and then, there's very little sign of life here.<br /><br />So, for now, it's just us and the cats. More signs of life arriving tomorrow. I can't wait! Tiwonana!!Jen Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13081659055172357701noreply@blogger.com1